Threads of Sanity
by Rae Logan
Summary: COLLAB FIC WITH COOLANAANGEL ON DEVIANTART. Mephiles the Dark is finding out that his task of freeing Iblis isn't as easy as it seemed... -Mild Language Warning-
1. Chapter 1 by CoolAnaAngel

Okay, this is part of a Collaboration fic that CoolAnaAngel of DeviantArt came to me for as an idea about a year ago, and after some delays, we finally finished it (all while typing back and forth through the DA notes system, in fact! O_O ). She handled the odd numbered chapters, and I handled the even ones, and back and forth, we created this interesting alternate version of Next Gen through Mephiles the Dark's POV as he encounters each character, each time travel part, each boss fight, and what we saw and didn't see.

Well... CoolAnaAngel wrote this chapter, so here it is:

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><p>It is done.<p>

After years of planning, patience, and agonizing waiting, it is complete. My Plan— our Plan— is real. I am finally where I want to be, where I belong.

It's been absolute Hell, my life, from the moment I was split from my very being, my essence, my soul ten years ago. When I was released, I immediately initiated my Plan. And now, all of the pieces are falling into place. Sonic the Hedgehog is dead. I am with Iblis. I am Solaris. I am eternal, powerful, and a god.

Finally.

A sadistic glee rises inside of me. The same glee I felt when I killed the hedgehog. I laugh, unable to contain this wicked amusement. I see the girl's face when the hedgehog falls forward, bleeding and unmoving. It's somewhat surprising—and exhilarating— how much blood is inside a body. They say the more iniquitous the soul, the blacker the blood. If this is true, my blood is as black as midnight.

A bright flash of golden light breaks my reverie. I look down and refocus my eyes. Three orbs of blinding and pure gold light advance towards me—us. No, not orbs…hedgehogs. I recognize them at once. One of them has red streaks through his now golden fur; Shadow. I glare. Didn't my duplicates deal with him? Another one has hair that inexplicably reminds me of a leaf; Silver. Idiot. I suspected he would choose the losing side. The final hedgehog is what rocks my nerves the most. His quills are upturned and there is a familiar fire in his eyes.

Sonic.

No. I killed him. I know I killed him. I saw the life leave his green eyes. This isn't possible. How could he be alive? They would need the seven Chaos Emeralds to do such a thing. And I—

I freeze, now realizing my fatal error. Iblis and I flung the emeralds to the distant corners of this disintegrating world. I had counted on their rivalry towards each other to keep them from working together.

I had miscalculated.

I calm myself. They are a slight bump in the road to victory. I'm still going to be successful. They will not take away from me what I have tried so hard to accomplish. My rage flares as the trio faces Iblis and me, ergo causing Iblis' fury to build as well.

Sonic clenches his fists and curls into a ball before charging at us with his trademark Spin Dash move. His attack is redirected back at him and I laugh dryly. Shadow moves forward and pulls his hand back, now glowing with Chaos Energy.

Well, the fool can try.

His hand lashes out towards us, sending at least a dozen Chaos Spears our way. I don't even feel them as they hit home. My confidence is renewed and I allow Iblis to continue attacking them. The final hedgehog, Silver, holds his hands up and Iblis' attacks are suddenly encased in a teal aura. Silver shouts something inaudible before throwing the rocks at him. Does he seriously—

A sudden pain racked the right side of our body. I look at our arm and see the guard protecting it is cracked in two. Silver throws something else and the guard comes off completely. I order Iblis to attack them with our Dark Chaos Lance and he does so. Too late. The hedgehogs have already moved and now Shadow prepares another attack. A dozen more Chaos Spears hit us. It feels like a hundred knives are being plunged into our body.

This isn't possible! They can't hurt us. We are Solaris, the Eternal Flame. We cannot be hurt. We cannot be defeated.

And yet, here we are.

The next minutes stretch into years. Their attacks continued like a horrible requiem. Sonic. Shadow. Silver. Sonic. Shadow. Silver. Sonic. Shadow. Silver. Again and again.  
>Suddenly I'm aware of a strange feeling building in our gut. It feels tense and like the pressure keeps building. I look at the spot and I feel my face pale. They're aiming at me now; the conscious of Solaris. If they hurt me enough…it's over…<p>

No. How could it have gotten this far? Where could I have made a mistake? I do not make mistakes. I can't afford to.

A mistake. That's what I am, right? I'm a horrible mistake, an experiment gone rogue. All because of that naïve Duke and because of that accident ten years ago.

Ten years ago…

An accident…

I was created, sealed, and forced to live out ten long years in a prison…

Slowly cracking and reaching my breaking point…

I would do anything to change all that.

Something seems to click in my mind. Why didn't I think of this before? Surely this will solve everything. Yes, it will. I know it will. I just have to act now before my window of opportunity is gone for good.

Without a second thought, I open a rip in time and fling myself into it.


	2. Chapter 2 by RaeLogan

This is one of my chapters for it... I'm trying to be clear as to who did what, so there's proper credit.

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><p>I fell out of the portal and landed on the cold, metal floor, not making so much as a sound when I touched down. Being a shadow creature like myself had it's perks... As no one would have heard me. I would have smirked if I was able to.<p>

I surveyed the area, taking in the obsessive attention to cleanliness, with not a cobweb or a speck of dust in sight. I suppose it would be jarring to someone else, but I really don't care. There were far worse things, after all. Which reminds me...

Taking my time, casually, as I, more than anyone, know that I can make all the time that I need... I explore the halls a bit, getting more familiar with the labyrinth that had once seemed impossible to navigate.

My body now shivers, not from fear as it had then, but from anger.

It was all Shadow's fault. It had to be. I know that _I_ had done nothing wrong at the time, other than coming into existence, but that was strictly out of my hands. If memory serves right, I recall doing what any creature would have done when faced with such an overwhelming situation: Attempt to flee and hide until I could better assess what happened and what to do next.

I had barely come to term with realizing I existed, and just what it meant to "exist". It wasn't long until I then learned what it meant to be imprisoned. What darkness was. Alone, and powerless in an empty void, no answers... Nothing.

Like any creature new to the world, I had wanted to learn, explore and experience. Age wise, I was only a child, and that kind of yearning was only natural. All of those chances were ripped from me the moment Shadow said "Chaos Control".

The decade that passed in my prison, I grew bitter and full of hate for him, losing my desire to learn about the world, deciding that I would rather destroy it if it meant that Shadow would never be able to walk on it again...

Oh, my apologies... I'm trailing off in thought...

Bringing my thoughts closer to the ground, I realize that I'm dragging a clawed hand idly against the wall, leaving scratches in it, as well as the sound of crystal against metal was literally grating on my senses. No doubt someone would hear me, so I drop my arm and change my form, having realized that the crystals glowed in the dim lighting of the halls, which would have made me an easy thing to spot.

I honestly hate this form. I resemble Shadow too much like this, which has caused several individuals to mistake me for him at first glance. Not the way to get on my good side, if I have one.

Back to my task.

Time is an interesting and curious thing. Every action opens infinite possibilities, creating new universes from something as simple as deciding to hold my breathe. Then if I decide to see how long I can do so, once my limit is reached, I might have to gasp for a short while, perhaps looking around and finding a new path to follow while I catch my breath. Perhaps later, I'll wonder if I had simply continued on with breathing normally, would I have eventually followed that path..?

Of course, with my capability to travel through time, I can find that out, as well as all the branching paths that resulted from it.

I'm saying this because I got to thinking, and wondered if all this time, I could alter events... Why didn't I just go straight to the source?

Perhaps to answer that, I suppose I get too easily distracted. Maybe you've caught on by now.

It didn't take me long to find the laboratory. The scientists were continuing their project, unaware of impending doom that was scheduled to result in the next quarter of an hour.

It was simple to remain hidden, as it was something I was very good at, another perk of being a shadow creature. I examined the large container, briefly mesmerized by the handheld sprite of light that drifted about lazily in it.

I was looking at the purest and simplest form that Iblis and I made up... That of Solaris.

Truly the first thing to have captivated my attention like this for as long it did. And why shouldn't it? It was so perfect, so stunning, and positively calming to me. Half of it _was_ me. I was part of this pure creature that was immortalized and praised by this kingdom. So different than the beast that Iblis and I formed into not long before I jumped through that portal.

It's a pity that this precious being was destined to be ripped in two in a matter of minutes...

Wait.

Minutes..?

I've wasted a great deal of time just gawking at the thing! What's gotten into me?

Surveying the machine, I realize that despite being knowledgeable of most everything... This was one of the rare instances that did not fall under "most". I have not an inkling how this thing worked, and not enough time to educate myself by simply going in and seeing it's internal workings.

I hate to admit it, but I might have ruined my chan-

No! I will _not_ say it! I can still do something! I transcend time itself, dammit! I can still-

Ohhh... Chaos. I really need to work on that. Flying into a rage like that is the perfect catalyst for triggering a burst of power from me. The last thing I need is to let anyone know I'm here...

Oh, dear... I don't even know what caused the accident to begin with. What happened before the explosion... Anything I can remember..?

Of course not! I didn't have my first intelligible thought until _after_ the explosion. How would I know..?

A flash of light and crackle of electricity rip me from my thoughts. I look up and narrow my eyes at what I see: Experimenting! Those humans are _experimenting_ on the younger Iblis and I! How dare they! The accident was probably caused by the humans' foolishness!

I watch in mute rage for no more than a minute, a complex mix of emotions gripping me tightly, some I can easily identify such as hatred, contempt, and fury, and others that were new and therefore baffling and somewhat unnerving to me.

I can feel my already pale face get even more so as my fingers curl into tightly clenched hands, every bit of me fighting itself back, trying to rationalize with me, trying to keep me from doing something stupid...

Have I mentioned how interesting time is? I can jump to nearly any point in time that I desire, keeping a few simple rules in mind.

One: Keep crossing paths with myself to a minimum. Very important, as some versions of me aren't easy to interact with. A couple have attacked me before, not yet aware of our ability, and assume by my appearance that I'm Shadow at first glance. Some of them are not interested, and at least one was too scatterbrained to hold a conversation without trailing off. Anything that happens to a past me alters part of myself of now, so it's best not to bother.

Two: If I'm not careful, I could create a paradox. Something like "Event A cannot exist without Event B, and Event B cannot exist without Event A". Think about the chicken and the egg for that. Which came first? Are you sure? Why can't it be the other? It's a mess, isn't it?

I won't bore you with the rest, I suspect that you get the idea...

Another flash of light, and I just can't take it anymore! Seizing a handful of cords and cables in the back, I yank them loose, not really thinking or caring at the moment what this did to the humans' project. The electricity stops flowing through Solaris, and for a moment... I breathe a sigh of relief, finally stopping at being so tense.

I hear one of the humans exclaim in confusion, and I quickly sink into the shadows to conceal myself. One of them shrugs at the mess of cords on the ground, scratching his head, before putting then back in.

The next few minutes, I'm sure you're very familiar with. You know, the explosion and all that. Boom. Glass and debris everywhere. Iblis and I split.

I suppose the part I wasn't quite prepared for was the moments after. Most of everyone present was either dead or dying. The latter rattled me me somewhat. Not that I wasn't familiar with death and killing, no... After all, I killed Sonic. But, he was dead before he hit the ground. I made sure of that.

So... I guess no matter what I did here, nothing can be changed...

Wait... I think I hear Shadow. Of course, because he shows up right as soon as-

_Silver?_ What's he doing here? He doesn't exist in this era. Doesn't make much sense unless...

I see a Chaos Emerald for each of them, could they have managed to cancel two Chaos Controls at once, tearing the fabric of time?

No, I'm thinking to much into it... Shadow was always here, after all. He trapped me, and virtually left me to rot...

Which is what is about to happen right now. Blast.

Knowing where it all ends, I get myself to the chamber where I had been cornered, then stuffed into that wretched glass tube.

Perching myself out of sight on one of the center supports of the room, I wait for about fifteen minutes until I can see the inky black glob squeeze in from under the closed door, it's partly solid form crashing into several crates frantically, before coming to the other side of the room, which lead nowhere but the way it... I... came in.

I get up, ready to-

To what? I can't interact with it, as it's my earliest form, so my existence would be in great danger if I even guide it out. Right now, I resemble Shadow too much, which would cause terrible confusion. I should have realized that from the start: I have no power here.

Although I know should leave now, something was making me want to linger for a while. See what happens after I was sealed. What did Shadow do? Laugh triumphantly? Say something witty and go about his life? I honestly wanted to know, nit as a priority, but I mean... Well, since I'm already here, I might as well.

The door finally slides open, a large robot of some kind falling backwards as Shadow touches down to the ground gracefully, obviously having been able to destroy it as well as chase after me.

Arrogant showoff.

I watch my younger self get frozen in place, crying out in protest, almost in a pleading way. How out of character for me now.

The ooze demanded answers, at the very least a name, the identity of it's captor. Shadow states his name clearly, almost proudly, and I realize that I had copied that tone of voice when I stated a name to him in what would be a decade later. Strange...

The vapor's tone changes abruptly. Instead of sounding terrified and surprised, it becomes dark and threatening, almost hissing before being pulled into that glass prison.

To humor myself, I imagine how perfect for the situation it would be if the Scepter broke and shattered all over the metal floor at Shadow's feet, setting me free again. The imagined look on his face allowed me to brush off some of the anger welling up in me again. Which reminds me...

I peer over the edge to catch what he does. I had to know, how did he celebrate trapping me?

He reaches to the Scepter, lifting it from the ground with one hands as a dark aura radiates from it. I wait almost anxiously, straining my senses to catch anything. No victory cry. No striking a pose. Nothing. He just stands there and stares at it before lifting his gaze, staring ahead for a good while before mouthing: "That's what he meant..."

I'll be honest... That wasn't near what I expected. Was he referring to me? What _I_ meant? He knows very well what I meant! Trapping me and forgetting that it ever happened!

That's it! I've seen all I want! Enough! I'm out of here!


	3. Chapter 3 by CoolAnaAngel

Again... CoolAnaAngel is covering the ODD NUMBERED CHAPTERS. Don't forget that. :D

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><p>I stumble out of the time portal, my anger making spots appear before my eyes and making me reel. I lean against a wall with one hand and rub my temples with my other hand. I see Shadow as I close my eyes. I see the arrogant gleam in his crimson eyes as he followed my earliest form. My God, I can't even begin to describe how much I loathe that hedgehog.<p>

After my anger fades slightly, I open my eyes, stand up straight, and take in my surroundings. I was so furious; I didn't even focus on what time period I wanted to go to. I'm somewhat taken aback, and delighted, at what I see before me.

Chaos. Destruction. Armageddon.

Those are the words that instantly come to mind as I look around. Fire licks and burns the very air as is weaves its way through the darkest corners of this place. The smoke is so thick, I can't see five feet above my head. Buildings groan and teeter dangerously, threatening to fall in an instant. But it's not the total annihilation of the city that surprises me.

It's how silent it is.

The only noise I can hear is the cackle of flames and the moans of the desolate buildings. I scoff disdainfully. You'd think that a place with this much wonton destruction would at least have the occasionally shriek as a woman lost her children or the wail of someone who discovered their loved one dead.

Something teal and bright whizzes above my head and snaps me out of my reverie. It's gone in a nanosecond and I look after it, mild curiosity tickling inside my mind. After hesitating, I decide to follow it. Maybe—whatever it is— will get my mind off of Shadow. I laugh at myself coldly. Nothing could ever get my mind off of that wretched creature and what he did to me. Trying not to focus on the hedgehog for too long, I follow the teal light.

It continues traveling on towards what, I assume, used to be downtown. I note that it gets hotter as I progress through the city. The teal thing suddenly stops in front of an enormous ravine filled with magma. Not wanting to be seen by the creature, I take to high ground and examine the being. A stab of hatred courses through me like lightning as I recognize the creature.

Silver.

Of course. This is his timeline, is it not? And look, there's his purple friend coming to his aid in whatever it is he's doing. What's her name again? Ember? Burn? Whoever she is, she's not important.

I notice that Silver is staring fixatedly at something and I follow his gaze. The magma bellow bubbles and rises slightly. A large portion of lava suddenly flies up as though someone is getting out of it.

Because someone is getting out of it.

A large, horrible beast that rivals the size of the Empire State Building rises from the magma. It is made entirely of lava, fire, and volcanic rock. It opens its mouth and lets out an appalling roar as some lava dribbles out of its mouth. The monster has three bright green eyes on top of its head as it looks at Silver and what's-her-name hungrily. With a wretched jolt, I recognize the beast.

Iblis.

How on Mobius did he get so powerful? Without me, he should be nothing! Nothing! There's no logical way he could become so omnipotent on his own. But, here it is, the horrible truth stabbing me in the chest.

It's getting hard to breathe. The smoke begins to suffocate me as well as my fury and disbelief. I am forced to lean against a wall for support as the world tilts. Iblis' roar echoes in my ear like a Requiem from Hell.

Something in my mind finally reaches its breaking point and snaps. I can almost hear it snap in half. I look at Iblis, a burning fire blazing in my eyes.  
>He doesn't need me. He never needed me. I am a monster. A mistake. An experiment gone horribly wrong.<p>

Useless.

Hated.

No! I refuse to accept it! He does need me, my power, and my cunning mind. He needs me whether he likes it or not! I'll make him see…I swear to God I will.

The heat suddenly dies down and I look at Iblis just in time to see him sink back into the lava. I was so consumed by my anger, I didn't even see Silver fight him.

You see? He does need me! He can't even take Silver on his own! Right?

Right!

I hear Silver yell something about defeating Iblis and my mind starts working. After plotting for a moment, my eyes shine darkly. If I had I mouth, you can bet I'd be smirking the worst possible smirk.

My window of opportunity is here and now. And I'm taking it.

I'd like to see anyone try and stop me.


	4. Chapter 4 by RaeLogan

This one is an even numbered chapter. That means I did this. I just want to avoid making anyone mad...

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><p>Taking my place upon the jutting piece of broken building, I make my presence known, raising my hands to the sky dramatically as I rattle off some paradoxical statement that would easily baffle anyone.<p>

I don't care how ridiculous that description sounded... Right now, to Silver as he spins around to look up at me... He must think I'm a godsend. The answer to everything. A knight in shinning armor in this desolate wasteland he calls home.

Naturally, Flare, or whatever her name is, looks at me skeptically as I hop down from my perch and land soundlessly, crouched in front of them. She's not so easily taken with me as Silver starts asking questions eagerly, wanting to know everything I had to offer.

Standing up, I wave a hand boredly, telling him that I'll answer soon enough, and we should not be out in the open when I do so.

"Why? We're the only ones in this part of this city since everyone left when Iblis moved in..." Silver gave me a confused look. "And I think that monster's too stupid to really be able to overhear us..."

"Of course he is..." I agree, knowing that was true because _I_ was the smart one. "But I would prefer if we were somewhere more... Eh... Less on fire..." I add anticlimactically, casting a glare at the massive amounts of red and orange that marred the scenery. All Iblis' doing...

"That's going to be very difficult..." Silver starts slowly, giving me a look that clearly voices that he realizes that I'm not from around here.

"Where there's fire, there's always shadows..." I explain, looking around quickly for an idea.

From the looks of it, this was Soleanna before Iblis burnt it all to a crisp. That's a start, as I at least know where we are. In fact, this seemed to be reminiscent of the mainland of the city, and that meant...

"I know the perfect place..."

And that would be an old abandoned base of... Blanking on the name here. Honestly, I don't even know how I know of this place, as I have no real recollection of ever setting foot near one. After all, I've been chasing after Shadow up until now, on top of trying to kill Sonic to make that wretched girl cry. I was too occupied to sight see...

I brush that thought away and lead the pair to my destination, once or twice getting a bit turned around as the lack of landmarks and legible signs made it a bit difficult to navigate.

"I can fly, you know..." Silver adds, obviously a bit impatient. "If you know where it is, I could make it a lot easier..."

"Cutting corners won't get the proper results." I comment back, pretending to be inspecting a bit of debris indistinguishable from all the other bits of debris as if that was going to remind me of where it was I was looking for. "Anything worth doing is worth doing the right way."

He has no idea what kind of a hypocrite I am, spouting out "advice" I never use, but that seemed to shut him up for a while.

"You still haven't told us who you are yet." Little Miss Sparky finally speaks up, staring at me intently. "How can we even be sure we can trust what you're saying is true?"

"Hmm?" I act as if I hadn't heard her, and as if I just realized she was there. Before she can speak again, I act as if I've lost interest, and decide that we should go left. "Not too far from here now, I believe..."

Here it is. An old abandoned base of... Euch... Can't remember the name...

I go stiff when I realize the resemblance the base has to the old Soleanna laboratory I was created in. It appeared to be a carbon copy, but instead of signs of destruction from the blast of the accident, and no doubt Iblis' flames leaving scorches and soot in the walls... The area was more like it was decaying slowly over time, the metal rusting ever so slowly, layers of dust caking the floors, rails and inactive consoles...

I think I need a moment...

I turn to the pair that I had been leading, and tell them that I was going to do a once over to check the security of the area, in case any of Iblis' creatures were lurking. That was a lie, of course. I really wanted to see what I could work with to fabricate my lie.

It was very strange to me. I felt as if I knew exactly where everything was in this base, most likely because that Human had managed to replicate the old laboratory to the last minute detail...

Does originality still exist in _any_thing?

I took no time in finding the main computer room. Those console probably hadn't had a spark of electricity flow through them in years, so it might take a bit of jostling cables and whatnot to get a reaction.

I know what you must be thinking. Didn't I already try that and it ended badly? This is completely different, however. It can't be too hard.

Hmm... An old energy generator. This could work... If I could figure out how to power it...

Nevermind, I got it...

Before the screen of the console before me lights up, I get a glimpse of myself in the reflection of the screen.

My breathing stopped briefly, as it didn't register to me that it was my own at first. I spun around, expecting to see Shadow, but find nothing.

It never truly occurred to me how just how much my appearance really resembles him. Yes, I did use his shadow to craft myself a tangible form... But I never took a moment to examine myself.

Of course, I'll just say that I'm completely different because my fur is paler, those Rings are different, my eyes don't match my stripes, my build is thinner and let's not forget the lack of a mouth... As well as-

Wait... Are... Didn't my eyes used to be a brighter green? My quills streaks too? Am I... I'm not going grey, am I? That's impossible! I don't age! I shouldn't be, anyway! Not so long as-

Ohhh... No... It's probably a side effect of being separated from Iblis for so long. Well, this changes everything...

The console screen shows a login thing of some kind. It didn't take me long to figure that out, as someone had left a password engraved on the metal siding. Not much security, really...

Tap a few keys, and something else pops up. Several words stand out to me at first glance, such as "Soleanna", "Solaris", and "Disaster". There are numerous little pixelated pictures on the screen, and I click one of them, and an image of an overhead view of the city of water enlarges.

Further curious, I click another and a copy of a newspaper pops up as well. Scanning the headline, I see that it's about the "Festival of the Sun", which appeared to happen within hours of my escape from the Scepter.

I narrow my eyes. The Humans _celebrated_ a deity they had subjected to all sorts of electric shocks and who knows what else? What a bizarre and sadistic race of creatures...

Another click or two and there's a file of various information on their culture, which I quickly shuffled through, not caring too much about it. Apparently, the city's personal architecture in it's main town was designed to bare elements to Solaris' true form, as a reminder or something, yadda, yadda...

Three labeled images catch my interest. "Solaris" followed by the first three numbers. I click all of them quickly and they all open side by side. A pure white flame, a white and pale green eagle like creature with three-fingered arms and a stylized sun shape behind it, and a golden winged deity, with a red core, that bared resemblance to the city seal.

Solaris. All three known forms. I had never really seen them before, as I was part of it... But something about seeing it stirred up my determination to fuse back with Iblis again even more.

I almost jump when I realize that I had left my two followers outside for at least twenty minutes. They were bound to have lost interest, and may have even left, closing my window of opportunity...

I hurry out of the room and back down the halls, nearly losing my footing in my rush, and finding them outside where I left them. The metal siding of my shoes get little traction, and I slip and fall forward before I can breathe a sigh of relief, and feel the urge to smite something as I stare blankly, inwardly flustered to have made myself look ridiculous in the presence of someone.

Surprisingly, Silver reaches a hand out and offers to help me to my feet, his gold eyes giving away that he was amused at my flub. It takes every bit of effort in me to not snap at him and make a grab for his throat.

It then occurs to me that I could put up a charade of being a harmless, absentminded and well intentioned hedgehog to further gain their (that is to say, Silver's) trust.

"Might want to watch out more..." He says.

"Of course... Of course..." I nod my head and get to my feet. "Can't say how much I've heard that..." I realize that we have yet to be properly introduced, and I don't want to slip up with his name, as he would wonder how I knew it. "My name is Mephiles, by the way..." I didn't bother to add the rest, as I'm sure that the surname of "Dark" would easily raise some eyebrows.

"I'm Silver, and she's Blaze." He says.

Blaze? Well, I've been way off...

"I think I've found something that may interest you in your little quest..." I wave a hand in the direction of the inside of the base. "Information about the day Iblis was released... Might help..."

Silver looks at the cat for a moment, as if seeking her approval and slowly nods.

If I could smile, I'd smirk.

I lead them down the halls, blathering needlessly about what I found, as if I thought it was the most interesting tidbit ever.

"I'm sorry, but how will this help us..?" Flame or whatever asks. I choose not to ignore her this one time.

"To fix this present timeline, you need to change the past..." I explain, keeping my eyes fixed on the floor as we enter the room.

"But that's impossible!" Silver shouts.

I shrug.

"With my help... You can..." I spin around to face the both of them with my arms out to the sides, in a non threatening gesture, essentially making myself look vulnerable and harmless. "Because I have the power to travel through time!"

The white hedgehog's eyes widened in amazement as he steps forward.

"No way!" Silver looked like he thought this was too good to be true. His girlfriend was quiet, however. I ignored her again.

"In order to change the past..." I gesture dramatically as if I were telling a story to an easily distracted child. "You must eliminate the individual who has awakened Iblis..." I pause, then let my arms drop a bit as I spin back around to face him and keep eye contact. "The Iblis Trigger..."

He thinks for a moment, taking this all in. I wait on baited breath for his response, as this could decide everything.

"If I eliminate this guy..." He says slowly, looking up. "Will our world be saved?"

I wonder if my eyes are sparkling with excitement at how easy this is and simply nod before turning towards the screen, which had gone dark. Nearly panicking, I hit a few keys, and breathe an inward sigh of relief when it lights up again and springs up my previous viewings.

"The Day of Disaster..." I say slowly, reading one of the headlines. I look back at him briefly to see if he's still watching. "Here are my records of this event..." I see something purple glint out of the corner of my eye and quickly snatch it up excitedly before either of them see. It'll help with what I have planned. "This was when Iblis was freed and his flames were released into the world..." I hold out the purple object, an abandoned Chaos Emerald, and hand it to him. "And you have this person to blame..."

He looks at me skeptically, and I motion for him to grab it and look into it. With luck, he'll see fire and a hedgehog. Easily misleading. A red herring.

After about ten seconds, he shouts: "I see it!" He looks up again. "So that blue hedgehog's the Iblis Trigger?"

The cat's eyes flicker with interest as she leans in.

"... Blue hedgehog..." Her voice is laced with slow recognition.

Oh... crap. She knows him. She probably met him in another time, and isn't aware... But she recognizes him. I need to keep her away from Silver during this.

He hands me the Emerald back and I raise my hands, preparing to open a portal. An orb forms in between them and I turn around, deciding where each of us should go. I'll split for a while, I should drop him in a nice place so he'll be more determined to fight, and her... Maybe someplace with water. Cats hate water, right?

"I'll send us back in time when the Iblis Trigger was alive..." I add, making the orb wider and enveloping all three of us as they shield their eyes from the brightness.

Before we get pulled through time, I could swear I saw a blue furred face with red and yellow companions staring through the slightly ajar door.

I thought nothing of it...


	5. Chapter 5 by CoolAnaAngel

I hope you remember that CoolAnaAngel does the odd numbered chapters, right? Yay!

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><p>Rather than going back to the present with Silver and— oh I give up with her name, I teleported back outside of the base. I look at the shining purple emerald that rests in my hands, seeing my own eyes reflect in the glass. I clench my fists angrily when I see the reflection of the one I hate the most when I look at myself. As enjoyable as it was to send Shadow and Lipstick, or whatever, into the future, couldn't I have gotten the shadow of someone I could stand? I stop. The list of people I can stand is very small, or nonexistent.<p>

My ears flick and I hear the sounds of people coming out of the base. I look back at the doors for a moment before ducking behind a huge boulder of debris. Could it be Silver? Did I not send him into the present? Is it possible that he came back looking for his friend or me?

Whoever it is coming out now. I duck lower but am able to see who it is. The first person I see is a small, orange fox with…two tails? I vaguely wonder if the extra tail is cybernetic. Another Mobian steps out. This one has long red dreadlocks and piercing violet eyes. Finally, the last one walks out. I clench my fists tighter when I see who it is.

Sonic.

He runs a hand through his azure quills blandly. I resist the urge to throttle him with Dark Chaos Lance. All in good time…all in good time…

Sonic looks at his two companions, eyebrow raised. "Okay guys, I know that the weird dude looked a lot like Shadow. But c'mon. He doesn't want to kill me anymore. I think…"

They saw me? Crap. This could mess everything up. Not for the first time, I curse my resemblance to Shadow.

"Sonic, you don't know that. We're just going to have to be careful," says the fox.

"We just won't tell him what we found," snarls the dreadlocked echidna. "I never trusted that thieving bat anyway."

"Unless you were flirting with her," mocks Sonic. He laughs at the echidna's expression. "Okay, we won't tell Faker. Does that mean we won't tell him about the princess either?"

The princess? What do they know about the princess?

The fox nods and points. "We're supposed to rendezvous over there." Sonic and the echidna nod and run forward, the fox following in the air.

Faker…Sonic's nickname for Shadow. Huh. I thought they would've found a way to get back to the present by now. Perhaps I overestimated Shadow's potential. A ghost of a smile passes over my face, might as well take a break after working all morning.

I laugh somewhat madly and slink after the three Mobians.

* * *

><p>I follow the three Mobians to a more desolate and…on fire area of Soleanna. They go inside a bare circular area, surrounded by enormous rocks and boulders. A perfect hiding spot, to the untrained eye, nothing is there.<p>

When they get there, Shadow and Eyeliner are already there. I snarl when I see that ebony and crimson hedgehog, his arms crossed over his chest aloofly. Silently, I slink into the shadows and watch the group.

They discuss finding a Chaos Emerald near the volcano. Lip-gloss pulls out the shining evergreen emerald, its glow still bright in the darkness of this world. The fox says something about finding an emerald and the echidna turns his back on the bat. I raise an eyebrow when she says something, causing the echidna to yell at her.

I hear Shadow ask if Sonic and the others had found anything. I tense. Sonic hesitates and the fox says that the Chaos Emerald is definitely at the volcano. The bat and echidna share some more "hostile" banter before the group runs off, Shadow leading.

I continue to hide in the shadows, following them.

* * *

><p>The group stumbles through the most desolate and destroyed area of this world. They eventually find the source of the energy readings: the Chaos Emerald. My fingers twitch. I could use one of those. No…I must be patient. Patience is the key. Blush the Bat flies towards the emerald and as she nears it, I feel a sudden spike in the energy in the area. Shadow must have noticed it too, for he yells at her to stop.<p>

Too late.

The bat touches the emerald and is sent back as a huge wave of heat hits her. My eyes flicker as I see the horrible beast rise from the magma. It's Iblis, of course. Damn. Must fate feel the need to mock me further?

Then again, this could be used to my advantage. Perhaps after this battle, Shadow and Sonic will have exhausted his powers, making my job much easier. I sit back and watch the fight with mild interest.

It's clear that Iblis is incredibly strong, but it's obvious that he is all brawn. I almost wince at his obliviousness and borderline stupidity. If I was his position, those hedgehogs would be dead in a matter of seconds. Iblis doesn't know how to use his power.  
>All the more proof that he needs me.<p>

The battle is over as soon as it began. Soon, Shadow and Sonic have a Chaos Emerald in hand and Iblis retreats to regain his strength. My anger boils but I force my rage back down. Sonic and Shadow open a portal to go back to the present, Sonic and his companions instantly jump through without hesitation. An idea suddenly exploded in my mind and my eyes flash eagerly. The bat flies into the air, looking at Shadow before jumping into the portal.

Now.

I instantly rise from the shadows I've been hiding in and catch Shadow's attention. I lock eyes with him and mine gleam, clearly taunting him. A ghost of a smile passes over my face as he turns away from the portal. Just as I planned. The hedgehog would rather prove he's more than capable of handling me rather than running.  
>With a snicker, I move in the opposite direction swiftly. Shadow follows me and the portal slowly closes behind him.<p> 


	6. Chapter 6 by RaeLogan

And this is one of mine. :D

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><p>I feel almost giddy at the idea of this. Shadow tails after me like a hound hot on the trail of a badger, dodging blasts of fire from the various spawn that Iblis seems to have control on.<p>

I disappear from sight, snorting at Shadow's cry of frustration. Creatures appear left and right, overwhelming him. Takers, Biters, Golems... Spitting fire and hurling spiked spheres at him...

Purple ones join the fray, which for a moment confused me. They appeared identical to the fiery ones, but seemed harder to destroy, and some spewed dark orbs, while others breathed out beams of energy that reminded me greatly of my own abilities...

Shadow barks out some rather stupid comment on his status of being whatever he was, and is quickly grazed by one of the beams, causing him to lose grip on a few odd ringlike objects that looked so much like the ones we both wear on our wrists and ankles...

No... Mine are blue. I like blue better anyway... It's better than red...

Shadow jumps on one of the purple Takers, then kicks off to land on a floating platform on the lava, which starts to drift along the current of magma, pulling him away from where he was headed. Jumps to the next one, drifts back again...

This goes on for at least seven more platforms, and I wonder how he can keep up that stamina in such an unforgiving climate... Surely another hedgehog would have collapsed from heat exhaustion..? He's not even out of breath!

Peering over the edge of a cliff above, I see him jump to a ridiculously convenient spring that seems to have survived the heat, which propels him to a ledge just below me, then another spring... Who thought that was a good design idea..?

Seeing that he was getting far too close, I retreat to a hidden cave, thrilled by all the crystals and shadows in there, allowing me to manipulate the area to better my escape.

This spills out into another cavern of lava, that drops into yet another, then a rinse and repeat of what I described earlier, which leads me to wonder if I just simply went in a circle and got lost for a moment... It's so identical, I wonder if this is a rare geographical anomaly... Let's skip ahead a few minutes...

Shadow's weight causes a bridge of rock to collapse beneath him, sending him plummeting to the magma below, but he doesn't so much as yelp, as if he expected it. He lands on a shifting platform, punches and kicks a Worm and jumps onto... Another spring..? This is getting stupid...

Spring. Spring. Spring. Spring. Platform.

This time, two Golems, two Worms and several Takers spawn in from of him, and he easily takes them down in seconds before using the Takers as a bridge to get to the next ledge...

Deciding that I've had enough of his ridiculous improvising, I disappear and find out how far this way goes, intending on being at the end of, waiting for him... This happens to be an isolated natural chamber, lava spills down the walls into a moat around a large rock foothold, with tapered and twisted pillars here and there, sporting glowing purple orbs in their "branches"... It's so big in here, I wonder if this cave could hold Iblis in his largest form with room to spare..?

It's obviously quite hot in here, as the air seems to be burning near the surrounding river of lava, but given that I'm supposed to be a compliment to Iblis, the heat doesn't effect me as much as it would someone else...

Finding myself to be bored of waiting, I start to think ahead, figuring out several courses of action once Shadow shows up. What I should do if he doesn't even pause to speak when he enters... What I should do if he doesn't show up... What I should do if I can make him think what I want...

My ear tugs itself on one direction when a very faint and dragged out cry of exaggerated something or another (it's hard to explain, but it sounds like a gurgling attempt to shout "Ack!" that extends to a good solid six seconds, give or take...), followed by the sound of something hitting the ground hard, sounded off at least seven minutes later.

I amuse myself with a brief mental image of Shadow sprawled on the ground, having not landed on his feet properly after that fall of about fifty or so feet in the air. However, I am disappointed to hear the scraping sound of his shoes, which meant that he must have jumped up without a problem. Damn...

Taking a moment to find a perch to stare down upon him from, I stand with a rather impressive display of balance (Jealous..?), and fold my arms, waiting for him to show up.

He hurries in, a little out of breath, staring and turning his head wildly, no doubt affected by the endorphins that were coursing through him from his near non-stop sprint to find me.

If I could smile, I'd probably be doing something akin to a grin and a smirk would be together.

"So... Decided to void your return ticket, now, did you?" I catch his attention as he swings his view upward, glaring daggers at me.

"Why are you here..?" He clenched one hand and points at me with the other. "Did you ruin this world..?"

I pause before saying: "The answer's yes... And no..." Seeing his frustration, I add, snapping my fingers: "Perhaps it's better to show you..."

Literally out of thin air, I summon this timeline's version of him, who has been put in a state of suspended animation, bound by his hands and feet in a containment pod, head hanging limply and eyes closed. He seems to be the same age as Shadow does now, as if he hadn't aged a day...

Remembering my own graying fur and quills, I snort disgustedly at how yet again, he seems to better me at yet another thing...

He looks at himself and his eyes widen in surprise, taking in the situation as he stumbles back, reeling with shock. Am I just imagining it, or is his little tail curling between his legs like a startled dog? Oh, how wonderful! This is even better than what I had in mind to begin with, which was just tell him that he caused all this instead of me. I could really work with this now...

"Yes... That's you..." I "assure" him in mock concern, watching hims shaking his head slightly. "After the world was devastated by Iblis's flames... What do you think happened..?" I shrug halfheartedly, bringing my hand to my face in thought, looking up at the ceiling. I throw my hands in the air when he doesn't respond, mainly to use my excessive gesturing to make up for my lack of some features on my face. "A search for the guilty... 'Who did this?' you may ask?"

Still nothing from him, which slowly grates on my nerves.

"Humanity wasn't just jealous of your power..." I egg on, trying to get under his skin. "They feared it... They used this incident as an excuse to hunt you down..."

Still nothing. He's just staring at the ground. I'm getting a little annoyed now...

"Come with me, Shadow..." I change my tone slightly, feigning sincerity, as I reach out towards him. "Let us punish this foolish world of humanity... It's only fair to give back what was intended for you..." I try stirring up a misguided hate for who should be his allies. "You have every right to want justice..."

He blinks and his eyes focus on my last words. His brow ferias and he says: "That's absurd..." He lifts his head and looks right at me defiantly, head held high and chest puffed out like he thinks he's something special. Oh, please. "Whatever it is you wanna do... You can do it alone..."

Not the answer I expected... Or wanted. I'll admit that I get easily enraged when a plan blows up in my face like that. I take a quick breath and force out a strained and somewhat calm: "You forgive humanity this folly then?" I wave a hand back at his future, trying to kick into his head what I want him to think.

"I determine my own destiny..." He clenches a hand and stares at me with newfound determination I did not intend to stir up.

I lost it. I'll admit it. I take full responsibility for the next actions I do.

Shaking with rage, I start breathing heavily, not thinking or seeing clearly at the moment. I cross my arms and then throw them out to the side, my body changing form.

I can't really explain it. I've never willingly changed in front of something for me to examine myself with, so I honestly don't know what changes how. I just know that I look like I'm a twisted form of Shadow's-

Oh, for the love of-I DO NOT LOOK LIKE SHADOW! Shut up about that!

Sorry... I get easily ruffled in this form... Let me continue...

I drop down in front of him, lifting my head to stare, my arms hanging loosely in front of me as a low chuckle builds up inside me, a sign that it's "anything goes" with me right now...

"Such foolishness..." I remark too calmly as a dark mass forms in the ground behind me. "Very well then... Let's see if you can... Entertain me..."

At those words, the mass splits into countless little creatures, half my size, but with long arms, short legs and thin bodies, heads resembling some aquatic creature I never cared to learn about. By countless... I mean it.

Shrill laughter sounds off and echoes from each and everyone of them as they charge at Shadow, who could only stare in confusion at what just happened. Aw... No fun...

"Move stupid!" I bark at him, earning a surprised look from him, so I clarify. "If you're going to fight me... Do it right and stop gawking like an idiot... I demand that you do it my way!"

One of the creatures latch onto him and explode in a weak puff of smoke, and an orb is absorbed into his body as if to add insult to the injury. To me.

"Really?" Shadow scoffed, which made me growl in frustration.

"Oh, just you wait until more than five of them get you!"

"What? That's nothing! You really have no idea who I am, do you?"

He's mocking me. That's all I can hear. He's laughing at me. He's making me into a joke. Stop it. Stop it. ...

I wonder if you can really hear me snap the way I do. It's like my mind were a piece of hard plastic, breaking in half, leaving me stunned and in a daze momentarily until something slides in that shouldn't, everything else nothing more than a muffled, garbled mess...

I use my shadow (urgh... Is there ANY other name than that?) ability and sink into the ground where his shadow is.

Mock me? I'll do the same! Hah!

"You want to know who traps you in this time..?" I offer, knowing that I'm lying, but he sure doesn't, I hope. "Can you imagine..? Who must have hated you do much, that they would wrongly accuse you of Iblis' work?"

Nothing... He just skates back and forth, jumping and beating back my little creatures, orbs absorbing into him.

Pointless...

"It doesn't matter how many of them you defeat, you know..." I drawl at him boredly. "I'm your shadow... You can't even touch me..."

I suppose this is where I just shot myself in the foot. At that moment, he glowed red and sent a pulse of energy that was strong enough to send me tumbling back into the "real world"... As in not in the ground. I'm so at a loss for words by this sudden change of events, that I just stammer and stutter angrily, the only intelligible words being "What?", "Shadow..." and "You!"

Shaking my head roughly to clear it, I dart backwards out of reach and summon more of those creatures, creating a barrier around me.

"What? Too scared to fight me on your own?" Shadow throws at me, sneering in his condescending way. "You run, hide and talk big... You're nothing more than a spineless coward, really..."

"YOU INSIGNIFICANT PEST! I'M GOING TO CRUSH YOU!" I scream, infuriated by his accusation. Coward? Me? I'll show him!

Sending a wave of the creatures at him, I'm angered to see that he sidesteps casually. Getting an orb ready in my hands, I plan to singe every inch of his fur off...

I blink, and he's gone. What! Where did he-?

Something connects with the back of my head and forces me to end up sprawled the ground, stunned and confused, my vision a bit crossed and fuzzy. The orb dissipates, and Shadow's feet land in front of me, the hedgehog folding his arms and scoffing.

"Hmm... Not even a challenge..."

I hate him. You hear me say that often, and I mean it. I really, really, despise everything about him. I cannot even begin to word it properly. I. Hate. That. Hedgehog.

As soon as he said that, I reach a hand out to grab his ankle roughly and pull his foot out from underneath him, making him crash to the ground after losing his footing.

"You're pathetic..." He mutters, obviously not moved by my desperate act as I pick myself up off the ground, adding a bit more to my rage.

I spring at him, knocking us both down again, as I try to slam his head into the rock floor, trying to get him to shut up. I honestly did not care anymore what I did, as long as he stopped mocking me.

Instead, I'm horrified to find him easily reverse the restraint on me, instead he simply held my head down with one hand on my cheek, keeping me pinned in such way that I had difficulty moving.

"First off... I'm the Ultimate Lifeform. If you're going to waste my time, at least be serious... I've conquered an entire alien invasion and saved the planet more times than I have hands... Hell... The boss of all that tried the same trick tactic as you, trying to turn me..." He explains calmly, ignoring that I'm shaking silently with rage. "And you know what? It didn't work... He even tried mind control, because I share the same DNA... It didn't work. He had an army of hulking beasts, with flying bat things, giant worms, and carnivorous larva... What makes you think your smoke and mirrors are gonna fare any better? I know who I am. Nobody tells me what to do."


	7. Chapter 7 by CoolAnaAngel

CoolAnaAngel's piece...

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><p>Shadow's words fill me with a burning-indescribable rage that starts eating me from the inside. I've never been so humiliated, angry, and-and… this close to snapping before. He keeps going on with his stupid monologue about how amazing and spectacular he is, but all I hear is a horrible buzzing in my ears. I have to shut him up. It's life or death for me.<p>

With a odd, battle-like cry, I lash out at him as much as I can and am surprised that I slice him across the cheek with my talon-like fingers. He's caught by surprise and lessens his grip on me. I kick him off and scramble to my feet. We face each other and he wipes the blood away from his muzzle nonchalantly, his eyes asking me if that's the best I can do.

Oh, that is it!

I lunge at him, fingers outstretched. Shadow sees my attack coming and crouches, kicking me in the back of the head as I near him. I reel and get a face full of dirt, ashes, and the residue from my not-so-successful copies as I skid to the ground.

I. Freaking. Hate. That. Hedgehog.

"You're pathetic," snarls Shadow, encouraged by my humiliation. I pull myself up to my hands and knees, shaking with ire as he continues mocking me. Shut up. Just…just shut up!

I fly to my feet, hands outstretched. In my anger, I release an orb of Dark Chaos Energy and it flies at Shadow. It nails him in the chest, knocking him off his feet and into a column behind him. He grunts in surprise and pain as he slowly slides down to the ground. A cool rush of excitement courses through me. He's in pain! Finally!  
>I walk towards him, looking forward to bringing him even more pain. Maybe things will turn out well for me after—<p>

A shower of bullets in front of me momentarily breaks my concentration.

Shadow and I look in unison at the source of the sudden firearms. When I see who is responsible for it, I have to fight the urge to scream, "No fair!" like a spoiled little brat. But, it's really not fair! I mean, where the heck did this stupid robot come from?

"Omega," says Shadow quietly, obviously relieved by the robot's presence.

"Now-Is-Designated-Time," says the hunk of tin monotonously. "I-Shall-Assist." Instantly, more firearms replace his hands and he starts sending showers bullets towards me. I don't even bother moving. The bullets hit me, but fall to the ground in a useless pile of dented metal.

I, however, remain unharmed and revived by the fact that this robot cannot harm me. So much for Shadow's cavalry! Who's the Ultimate now?

I spread my arms out and a new army of my countless Aquatic-Demon-Like-Clones. Omega starts shooting at me again but to no avail. And Shadow follows Omega, looking somewhat drained…I guess I hit him harder than I thought.

Well, can you blame me? I was a little more than angry. But, this proves it! I'm not like Shadow! I'm more powerful and more-

A sudden burst of pain on my midsection sends me reeling. I look at Omega and see that he just shot a cannon-like weapon at me. And…it worked? The robot sees that I'm slightly surprised and he attacks me again with the weapon. Again, I'm sent reeling.

No! I will not lose! Not here! Not like this! If you want to win, you can't just defend— I raise my hands above my head— you've got to attack!

With a strange yell I slam my hands down, sending an enormous orb of energy at the two of them. It hits the robot, but does little, if anything, to daunt him.

Omega, now knowing what his Ace in the Hole is, fires shot after shot of that strange weapon. I try to dodge, but he shoots several of them at once, making it close to impossible to evade the attack. My energy level drains…and drains….and drains…on and on…

Suddenly, Shadow is in front of me. Before I can even register what's going on, he socks me in the jaw, almost shattering it. I twist and fly backwards. I hit the ground once, twice, three times before skidding to a stop.

I grunt and haul myself to a siting up position, making the world spin. I stand and stumble around a bit, overcome with vertigo. I see Shadow watching me, his eyes gloating with victory and laughing at me. _He's laughing at me._

I snarl furiously and hold my hand above my head. Instantly, a time portal appears and sparks almost welcomingly. I leap into the portal and hear Shadow sputter my name in surprise and anger. I quickly alter the time stream of the portal; ergo if he follows me (and I know he will) then he'll end up in a different time period than I.

But, just wait…when I get enough of my energy back…Shadow the Hedgehog will regret the day he sealed me in that horrible prison.


	8. Chapter 8 by RaeLogan

Mine...

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><p>I fall to the ground gracelessly, tired and worn out from that rather stressful ordeal. The world has yet to stop tilting around me, rendering my ability to stand useless at the moment, in which I fall back to the ground again as the portal behind me closes up.<p>

My head is swimming with dizziness, my body is sore, my limbs feel weak and useless, there is a strange thumping in my chest that makes my upper body tremble, and a burning numbness throughout me that raises the slightest bit of alarm...

Keeping my head low as I hold myself up with shaking arms, I force my eyes open and see that my hands are once again dressed with gray gloves. I must have changed back without realizing it.

My ears must be filled with insects, because all I can hear is a buzzing, a droning monotonous sound vibrating in my skull. You hear it too, right..? Bzzzzzz. Bzzzzzzzz. Bzzzzzzzzz.

My ears burn now. Heh... Not on fire, but as if thousands of tiny pinpricks where simultaneously being shoved into my skin in a sweeping fashion, spreading across my entire body. The weak, useless feeling in my arms and legs subside, and my head clears, prompting me to attempt to make it to my feet again.

As soon as I do, breathing becomes difficult, and my brain feels like it hit the ground while I'm still standing. My legs decide that they don't want to hold me, and I stagger backwards into a large metal crate that weighs more than me, easily acting as a form of support to keep me from collapsing and striking my head on the curb of the sidewalk.

I didn't realize until now just how much I had been drained and weakened during the battle, and with a murmur of relief, I'm glad Shadow and Omega hadn't been able to follow after me. In my weakened state, I would have surely been crushed, as I'm certain Shadow would have not shown mercy now that I was reeling from the damage. Of course, I would have tried to fight back, but what comes to mind for such a situation if that happened would have been... Pathetic...

I am not pathetic! How dare you! I'll make you suffer for even thinking that, you insignificant pes-

What? I did..? No, I was just explaining to you about what might have happened if-

No. I'm quite certain. I think I would know if... Forget it... I'm not in the mood... I feel like I'm burning right now, as if the sun was beating down on me... No... I'm in the shade right now, so that's not it...

Sliding to the ground to sit with my back against the crate, an arm resting on a knee while I bowed my head, trying to catch my breath, I start to wonder something...

Why am I considered a monster?

What did I do to be pinned with that label from the start? Because I wasn't born naturally? Because my creation resulted in many unintended deaths? Because I look like one? Because of what I'm capable of? Because I really just want to make a girl cry?

That last one sounds bad and downright cruel hearted, I know... But hear me out for a moment. She's really the only thing standing between me and Iblis, the other half of me, my brother and who I belong with.

I seek nothing more than to be completed, as I am nothing more right now than one small half of a deity like creature. The very creature this kingdom worships and reveres.

I have no memories of when I was joined with Iblis when we were Solaris, but it eats at me that I know we were never meant to be ripped apart like Velcro, and because that happened, we have been deemed as monsters, and forced to spend our entire existence apart.

And because that, we have been driven mad, growing unstable and uncontrollable because you want to hide that we exist, knowing that that means that your needless tampering has corrupted a pure creature into the monstrosity you've created and unleashed.

That is my motive. To right the wrong that has befallen me and Iblis. You've seen the sort of creature he has become as well, far different from the small flame he was, just as I was the shadow beneath it.

Am I still the monster now?

Yes...? Huh...

Because I've killed Sonic to try to achieve that goal? And tried to turn close friends into bitter enemies? And manipulated the good intentions of a young hedgehog to do my bidding?

What did you _want_ me to do? Peel an onion in front of her to make her cry? Do you have any idea how utterly stupid that would have been? And throwing myself out into the open like that? Do you honestly think Sonic wouldn't let me even try that without breaking out some sort of speed based move and beating me to the ground? Have you even heard of that as a task in a video game?: "Stop the bad guy from peeling the onion before it's too late! You have two minutes!"

Stupid. Really, you people are idiots... The whole lot of you...

I give up. You are obviously convinced that I'm a horrid beast with no sense of emotions that takes pride in ruining lives for the sheer pleasure of it. No, no... You've made it quite clear. Let's just get on with it... At least I know what I'm doing...

Reaching a hand up to catch into a groove in the crate, I try yet again to make it to my feet. I'm a bit more successful, but my head starts buzzing again. At least my legs haven't given out this time...

I'm mildly surprised that anyone has yet to take notice of me, considering the scarce amount of Humans that were within sight. They seemed to rather not interact with me. I'm not surprised about that, however.

A streak of blue races passed me without notice, and I snap my head up to see that it's Sonic, heading to the... What was it... Train terminal..? Eh..? Whatever that is...

Without realizing it, I try to follow (slowly and sluggishly, mind you) out of curiosity as to why he's in such a panicked rush.

If I looked as bad as I felt right now, I assume I had a half dead look in my wide eyes, unfocused and glazed over with feverish determination, feet dragging tiredly, arms limp and listless, pale face even more so, body trembling slightly as if I recovered recently from a bad bout of influenza... If I had a mouth, it might even be slack, half open from being too tired to keep it shut.

I really didn't get farther than five feet before I just stopped, standing there is mute confusion, head hanging low, wondering what the Hell I was thinking. I was in no fit state right now to be following speedy and potentially deadly hedgehogs. My body was barely functioning properly, still recovering from my fight with Shadow and Omega.

It was very distressing to me to be like this. I feel as if my my brain is still five feet behind me, and I'm half worried that if I look back by the crate, I might see it there, waving at me happily...

What? You think that sounds crazy? I'm disoriented, what do you expect?

Quick footsteps sound off behind me, and I half plead to myself that whoever it is, they'll leave me alone and continue about their business. They stop right behind me, and I curse to myself.

"Mephiles..." Silver's voice reaches my ears, and my senses kick start back to life. He's here? So, he must still be following after Sonic, and at least my plan is still in motion. And yet... There is an implication of question in his voice, as if he's starting to wonder my motives...

Oh, great. Just great. This is probably the best day I've ever had in my existence, and it's sill a disappointing pile of garbage. I'm not pessimistic, I'm just getting fed up with it.

He moves into my peripheral vision cautiously, as if concerned for my far away stare. I can see that the cat has met up with him again, so I feel a thrill of unease, wondering if she figured out my plan, and told Silver what I really am...

This makes me worried. I'm in no state to defend myself, and certainly not against a hedgehog who can use his mind as a weapon, and cat who can ignite me like a candle.

If only I had a mouth... I could at least fight back by biting down on an arm or something, so if I was finished off, they could at least say I didn't go without trying to save myself...

What am I thinking..? I don't even know if that's the case. I could be wrong... Maybe they still think I'm here to help. Maybe they don't know who I really am. Maybe they know only as much as I last left them off with. Maybe they aren't here to destroy me after all.

"Tell me... Who is the 'Iblis Trigger'? Why does he want to destroy the world..?" Silver asks carefully, gold eyes fixed on my shaky frame.

I swear, the sheer relief of hearing that everything was still on track was nearly enough to make me fall again, once that dread just dropped off me like a fruit leaving a branch. The feeling was bizarre, as I have no words for it, but I could equate it to being pleased. Now it's time to answer him.

"Why does that matter to you..?" I lift my head, hardly looking him in the eye. I am now able to move my arm, and I lift it, pointing at him illustrate my point, rolling my head to the side to look at him, and only him, as I know that cat would be difficult to convince. "Unless you complete your task, your future will remain the same, forever..." Silver clenches his teeth slightly, realizing that he couldn't afford to take pity for his target if he was to make any difference. "He's at the train terminal..." I add, offering him his next location. "It's now or never if you want this..."

The way I end that statement, I make it seem as if it's all on him. As if he was the only on capable of doing this. Something to make him feel as if his mission was special and important.

He looks at his companion (I think I've given up on trying to remember her name...) for advice. She simply nods her head in the direction they need to go, urging him to not waste any more time. Oh, thank you...

I turn to leave, and suddenly my energy level plummets, and dizziness returns. I fight to keep myself upright, but I fall anyway, sprawled on my front, arms in front of me in an attempt to keep from striking my face on the concrete.

That burning is back in my ears... Make it stop...

"Hey! Are you alri-!" Silver starts to ask, but I snap back before he can start.

"I'm fine!" I growl, not pleased at this. "Are you stupid! Go after him before you lose your chance!"

He backs off, startled by my outburst. He gives a helpless glance before taking a careful step away from me, the turning around and hurrying off to catch up to Sonic.

Ever so determined, I try to shove myself up from the ground for the countless time, this time taking care as to pace myself, so that I could catch any nuances of alarm in my low energy level.

I'm now sitting up, taking my time to eventually stand. I curse Shadow many times in rapid succession, knowing it was his fault I felt so weak at the moment.

Why won't my ears stop burning..?

I claw at them, desperate for relief from the irritating sensation. Maybe fleas have attached themselves to the back of them, gnawing away?

No, of course not... I can't have fleas. There has to be another reason why my ears itch... They're probably numb. Lack of proper circulation, that's all...

Trying to ignore it, I hold my breath and try to make it to my feet again. This time, I'm pleased to find myself a lot better off, legs more stable and willing to support my weight. The buzzing I was hearing has subsided considerably, even...

My brain tells me to not push myself, to wait before I do more than just moving. But I can't wait... I'm so impatient. You would be too if you had waited your entire existence to escape from a dark Hell. Waiting is unbearable to me...

At the very least, I want to move away from the sun. The heat from it shining down on my dark fur is uncomfortable, and making me irritable. I need to move to the shade at the very least.

My attention is brought to the small piers by the water, which was shaded sufficiently. I was also curious about the water, knowing that it was the opposite of fire, and drove me to want to investigate and study it in my forced free time.

Taking paced and controlled steps, watching myself carefully for any signs of muscle weakness, to avoid myself from collapsing again, I make my way to the steps that led to the lower portion, and walked down, keeping a steady hand on the rail to the side. Large objects were floating in the water, which my sharp mind identified them as "boats", but that was as far as my interest for them went.

Eventually, I was seated on the edge of the wood dock, fingers gripping the plank to anchor myself as I leaned forward examine the water, keeping my shoes up and away from it.

It seemed to be nothing special. It was just a large, nay, _massive_ amount of liquid. Why was it so important that this entire kingdom was built on it?

I was slightly drawn to touch and examine it, but needed to keep my hands anchoring myself to keep from falling in, so I removed my shoes and socks, ignoring any looks of any kind I might have been given.

I hadn't really examined my body before, and was a little surprised to what my feet actually looked like. Less toes than fingers, with my markings covering the top of them, my soles as black as the rest of my fur. The size of them makes them almost pawlike, with pads on the bottom as well, possibly due to having a hedgehog form.

"Huhn..." Was all I could really say, not sure wether to be amused, or annoyed, or even indifferent. They were just feet to me...

I sigh and decide to finally touch the water with my feet, jumping back at the shock of how cold it was. I guess it made sense, if fire was it's counterpart, but I hadn't quite been ready for it. The second approach is cautious. I didn't want to startle myself so much that I fell in.

I'll be honest. Hey! I can if I want to! I don't lie _that_ much, right?

Anyway, I said I'll be honest. I actually enjoyed that. No one bothered me. I wasn't having to keep up a charade at the moment. I wasn't being hunted. I wasn't losing myself in madness and fury. I was just... content...

Which startled me. I wasn't aware that emotion was in my range, as I had never felt like that for as long as I could remember. I was starting to worry what was wrong with me. Had I been struck in the head harder than I thought? Was some part of me injured in some way I didn't know and this was my coping mechanism? What was wrong with me?

I was hesitant, but I decided to simply ignore the anxiety. So what if I wasn't shaking with rage right now? Even I want a break from that.

Glancing down, I once again see my reflection. I can see that the colors are different, with blue-grey stripes and marks, a pale muzzle, light grey patch of fur on the chest and very bright green eyes that darken near the catlike pupils...

But to me, it still looks like Shadow. Same angles in the quills. Same locations of stripes and marks. Same type of longer fur on the chest. Same angled eyes, same distances between each point on the face, ears, quills... Everything was still the same.

I lift my foot carefully and stomp down on the face of the reflection, watching the water ripple and distort the image before it calms, and I kick it again and again, wishing that I could have done that to Shadow, wiping that smug smirk of his face while he mocked me...

I lean back a little, wanting to stop looking at it. It was doing me no good to stamp at an image in the water, although for a couple minutes, it had made me feel less sour at myself.

Then I heard it. The most screeching, grating, horrid voice shouting the equally as bad thing that was among the worse to call me.

"Oh, hey, Shadow!"

I complete lost my bearings and twitched and stiffened involuntarily, which caused me to fall off the dock and into the water I had tried to avoid dropping into anyway...

And this was the moment I learned that I didn't know how to swim. I shuffled through my mind frantically for anything I may have picked up on the subject, and was horrified to find none.

Because I can breathe, despite having no mouth at all, being cut off from oxygen was just as bad for me as it would have been for any of you.

I was glad to have removed my shoes, though... Their weight would have made me sink faster, dragging me further and further into the darkness...

Can I pause this to explain something? No? Too bad, I'm doing it anyway. I'm the one telling this story, not you.

You all know who I am, right? Mephiles the Dark? Creature of darkness, shaded counterpart to Iblis, pride myself in lurking in the dark, and all that? Even so far as being resurrected in the shadow of a hedgehog who's name was the same as that object? You'd assume that I absolutely drink up and revel in any concept of darkness...

You thought wrong. I've had more than enough of it for a decade. The inky blackness of oblivion swallowing me up, twisting, bending, wilting my sanity and will... I'm only drawn to the concept because it's all I know. I hate it, and love it at the same time. I don't know any better...

I can't help but notice that there is a bit of irony here.

Drowning... In darkness...

Sinking... Into darkness...

Ironic. My words are coming back to bite me...

I try to claw my way to something that I could at least use to try to fight my way to the surface. I don't want to just give up...

Something comes into the short view, eyes stinging from the salt in the water, and I quickly grab it, clinging to it tightly, using that as a lifeline. Whatever it was, it was pulled up and out of the water, myself as well, and I wonder if I was just rescued intentionally.

"Oh, you're not Shadow..." That grating voice says.

How observant...

I let go of whatever I was grabbing onto, which seems to be a large gold and pink mallet, and look up from the wooden floor to see a bright pink hedgehog. Her quills were styled like hair, held down by some kind of band. Short red and white dress, matching boots. Green eyes darker than mine, exaggerated eyelashes... I was certain this was a female hedgehog.

I'd probably never remember her name.

Heat rises in my face when I realize I'm trembling, wet and partly curled up on the planks, appearing quite ridiculous.

I shove myself up and turn away from her, snatching up the socks and putting them back, intending on not acknowledging her.

"Hey! I just saved your life!" She shouts. "You can at least thank me!"

Her voice is like nails on a chalkboard to my ears.

I pause on pulling the other shoe on, and look at her casually over my shoulder. If her clenched hands, pursed lips, and glare are any indication, she has a really short temper.

"So you did..." I shrug, hoping she'd just go away now as I finish getting the shoe on. I am in no mood to speak with anyone right now. "Now leave me alone."

"Geeze, you're just as stubborn and rude as Shadow." She scoffs and folds her arms, sticking her nose in the air as I stand.

The burning was back in my ears, which perked forward, having been held back against my head.

"What did you say..?" I ask with an extreme amount of calmness that did not match how I felt.

"I said you're just as stubborn and rude as Shadow." She says without hesitation, and without so much as looking at me. "You even look like him, too."

The only thing stopping me from smiting her right here, right now, was the witnesses. If I killed her, then I would have to kill them, and the sheer number of people would escalate and draw too much attention to myself. If only we were the only two... If only...

"I look nothing like him..." I force myself to sound as calm as possible.

"How do _you_ know? Have you even met him?"

She's trying to push me, isn't she? Stupid, pink she-rat... The more she talks like that, the more my ears burn...

I move passed her without a word, and she shouts, this time not so bossy: "Hey! Where are you going!"

"None of your concern."

"Well, I'm looking for my sweetie, Sonic." She says. "Have you seen a fast hedgehog around here? Blue like a sapphire, with gorgeous dark green eyes."

Though I am confused at the word "sweetie", the rest of her words, the way she describes him, and the use of a possessive pronoun clues me in that she is smitten with him...

Which makes me wonder if he returns the emotions back to her. If I were to do something to her out of annoyance... Would he have reason to track me down and beat me senseless out of anger? He was more than capable in that gold form, while Iblis and I were Solaris... So him in his natural form while I'm just me... Oh, dear... That could be bad...

"No..." I say slowly, thinking about the situation as it was and how it could end up as. It was best not to associate with someone so close to Sonic.

"Are you sure? He's been running around all day, trying to save the princess from Dr. Eggman." She seems surprised. "That's Sonic for you, always helping everyone he can. I thought he might have come around this way, so I could wish him luck..."

"He didn't..."

"Well, that's not what everyone else said..." She muses. "I swear, today's been nothing but one crazy thing after another. First, Dr. Eggman shows up and kidnaps the princess, then Sonic saves her, and it happens again a few times, and then the hedgehog I was with turned out to be hunting Sonic..."

"What? Silver?" I say before I can stop myself.

"You know him?" She seems incredulous. "Wait... You're not hunting Sonic, too, are you?"

How in the name of Chaos did she come to that conclusion so fast? She establishes that I must know Silver, ergo I must be hunting Sonic _because_ I know Silver? Am I the only one who can't make any sense of it? Please agree with me. I have to know.

She must have mistaken my bewilderment for hesitation. To further my suspicion of the short temper, she produces an even larger hammer out of thin air, and raises it above her head with both hands, looking quite livid.

Still trying to wrap my brain around this sudden turn of events, I raise my hands up in front of me, trying to convey that I was not a threat at the moment.

"I didn't say 'yes'..." I try to reason.

"But you didn't say 'no' either!"

She swings in down, narrowly missing me by hardly an inch. The hammer smashed through the wood on the docks, splintering pieces and making a rather unnerving crunching sound. She lifts it again.

"You're overreacting..." I say calmly, trying to not appear fazed by my near crushing. "Just put the hammer away..."

I almost don't see her strike this time, but a blur of movement makes me jump to the right, this time the hammer hitting the pavement, crushing the cement into powder beneath it.

I start to wonder just how heavy that thing really was, ducking out of the way again, splinters of wood and chips of paint from the guard railing in the upper level above me rained down on my quills as I held my hands over my head.

"You're making a scene..." I add, trying anything I could think of that wouldn't draw too much attention to get her to back off.

The hammer brushes against my nose as it buries itself into the steps by my side.

With how close it's come to hitting me, I start to wonder if her aim is really that bad, or is she mercilessly toying with me, like a sadistic predator?

Seeing that it was stuck between some steps, I take my chance and hurry down the sidewalk next to the water, and up the steps on that end. She pulls the hammer free and follows after me quickly, keeping a good enough distance that she could easily swing at me and hit my back. Why she had yet to, I'll never know...


	9. Chapter 9 by CoolAnaAngel

CoolAnaAngel's...

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><p>I miraculously lost her in the Soleanna Shopping District around an hour ago, but I still look over my shoulder for Little-Miss-Psycho-Hammer as I slowly worm my way through New City. Once I'm finally sure she's not going to keep stalking me, I relax slightly. Now, I can refocus on my real goal: killing Sonic and (if possible) causing as much torment to Shadow the Hedgehog as I can.<p>

I already have Silver on the job for killing Sonic. Though, with that hedgehog's weak fortitude, it'll probably be my responsibility to kill Sonic anyway. No matter. As for Shadow…

Wait…

Do you hear that buzzing noise? Don't screw with me! I know you can hear it! Damn it! Not again! I thought that after I regained some more energy, the buzzing, head reeling, and the aching would stop. I've regained about half the energy I lost and, while my head still throbs and parts of my body still ache, I haven't heard the buzzing in an hour.

What? You think I'm going insane? I am not! At least…I don't think I am… Could I be? Could all those years in the Scepter of Darkness cause me to slowly go insane? Or was I already insane when I went in? Was I insane when I came out?

Of course I'm not insane! Someone would know if they're insane, right? Right?

Right…

A bright flash of light in front of me pulls me from my reverie and I can't help but stumble backwards. A sound penetrates through the buzzing in my ears, getting louder. Is it…gunfire?

I look for the source of the noise and find it on top of some crushed shopping cart.

A robot.

What the hell is a robot doing here? I mean, does everyone own a robot? The machine points its guns at me— wait…at me?

"Mephiles the Dark do not resist and you will not have to face punishment from Dr. Eggman," drones the robot. How horribly cliché. But, I don't think I'm well enough to fight a killing machine just yet. And, did it say Eggman? Is that seriously his name? What does an egg-like man want with me?

Before I have any time to contemplate this further, the robot shoots at me. I manage to roll behind a fountain a split second before the bullets would've hit me.

Maybe everyone else is insane. Maybe I'm the only sane one in this world. It would explain the random robot attacking me and the psycho pink hedgehog.

No time to think of that now. I can hear the robot advancing slowly toward me. Something catches my eye in the air and I look up just in time to see two more robots landing beside it. It seems the egg-like man isn't taking chances.

Whatever the case is, I cannot fight in the condition I'm in. An explosion behind me sends me flying forward and the buzzing in my ears gets louder. The bugs that seem to infest my head get angry and buzz louder…louder…faster…faster…

Focus! I look ahead and I see a dark alleyway in front of me. It looks like a tight squeeze but…might as well try. Without a second glance behind me, I bolt for the alleyway, bullets raining down on me but, somehow, no bullet touches me.

I start to squeeze my way through the alley. Yes! I can fit! The robots won't be able to…but their guns could. I move faster. The whirring of the robot's movements gets louder. Almost…almost...just a little…

Yes! I come out the other side of the alley but I don't stop moving. I start moving quickly, not running but not walking. I look ahead of me and stop. It's another robot…but strangely familiar. Where have I seen it before? It turns to look at me and I remember in a flash of fury and worry.

Omega.

Wait, if he's here, that means Shadow isn't far behind. I look around for the hedgehog but am unable to see him. Omega notices me and starts moving toward me somewhat quickly with his rockets built into his legs.

Oh, great. Because everything else was going so well, right? Let's just add this!

Wait a minute…I can use this to my advantage. Shadow already knows that in the future the world turns against him and that he's eventually captured, right? Well, why don't I show who captured him?

I feel my eyes gleam as the plan falls into place in my mind. Turning allies into enemies is something I pride myself on. Why not put those skills to the test?

I start moving away from Omega, taunting him, daring him to catch me. He takes the bait and follows me as I move faster. All too easy.


	10. Chapter 10 by RaeLogan

My piece...

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><p>I managed to find my way to the main district, having to shove passed a guard to get there, who tried to explain to me that I needed to answer some confounded riddle before he could let me through.<p>

Really? I _must_ be the only sane one here after all.

It appeared that this entire area was taking advantage of being built on water, with bridges linking the streets, boats as quick transport, and fountains decorating the center of each section.

I honestly don't care.

Hopping down the steps that were obviously designed for Humans and not someone of my stature, I look around for a place that could be deserted so I could initiate the next step of my plan.

I head left just as soon the mechanical whirring of Omega reaches my ears. The city seems to be built in a full circle, so I should have plenty of space to elude him.

Something catches my eye and I see one of those springlike objects Shadow had used while pursuing me back at Flame Core.

Remembering how he had been catapulted from platform to platform, I figured: "Oh, why not..?"

Not my brightest moment, really. I blame the endorphins that were coursing though me during my chase. I never think clearly when I'm on a rush of any kind.

All I did was step in front of it and pressed my hand to it so test it's structure. It bounced back into me with enough force to send me in the air.

I'm not proud to admit it, but I actually shrieked in surprise, having no idea what I just did and where I was now. The next thing I knew, I hit dirt and grass of some kind, landing with a grunt, feeling a shockwave of force spread through me. I probably just landed face first...

Lifting my head up and sweeping grass and dust from my face, I see that I was thrown to the front of a cave that stood out in the water, and surprisingly, I was on a mesa of dirt and grass that was right in the arc of trajectory of that spring. Almost as if that was planned...

Once the shock wore off, I couldn't help but start a wheezy giggle of relief, which escalated into a loud cackle that echoed off the cave entrance as I sat up and threw my head back, arms wrapped around myself, gasping for air.

That was probably the most exciting thing that's happened for as long as I can remember.

"Come and get me, Robot!" I shout across the water at Omega as he looks back at me, twisting around in fury. He and I both know I'm well out of range to be shot at. "Don't tell me you're afraid of the water! Afraid of rust-!"

I shut up immediately as he jumps onto the spring and uses it more gracefully that I had. I roll out of the way before his heavy body can crush me, and I scramble to my feet, glaring.

"As I said before..." I say in a calm voice, before turning around and heading off into the cave. "Catch me if you can!"

You think that was childish? Really now? What, I can't make this interesting for myself? Who wants to be boring? I'm actually enjoying this, so you should be happy for me...

The deeper we reach into that cave, the darker it gets. As I said a while back... I'm not too trilled about absolute darkness.

However... I do get an edge in the darkness on account of it being my element. I can move faster among the shadows, and to a degree... Manipulate the environment. Also, a shadowed area requires less energy for me to use to do what I would have in broad daylight. Here, it doesn't matter if half my energy is still depleted. What luck!

I melt into the shadows and reform further in, tossing another challenge at him.

"You're a walking arsenal, right? I should be an easy shot then!" I shout. "Go on! Get me!"

He fires a shot at me, and I melt back into the darkness, the shot leaving an unseen scorch where I had been.

I reform not too far from where I had been.

"I thought you were fast enough to keep up with that hedgehog friend of yours!" I taunt. "What's keeping you from tagging me?"

Another shot and I disappear, then reappeared right on top of him, my feet on either side of his head, arms behind my back and leaning over to where I can be seen in his line of vision.

"C'mon now... I'm right in front of you. It can't get any easier than this..." I say in a voice dripping with smugness. "I'll even wait five seconds so you can get an edge. You'd like that, wouldn't you?"

I know that given his design, his arms would not be able to reach near his head, and I gleefully watch him struggle to do so while I count to five. I do it slowly even, just to grind salt in his wounded pride.

"-Five!" I shout and jump off and land in front of him, holding a hand in the air casually. "Oh, too bad! But thanks for playing!"

I threw my head back and laughed wickedly, my voice reverberating off the cave walls.

I am so ecstatic right now, almost manic even... It must have been that thrill from that spring that triggered a state of hyperactivity that was almost unheard of in me.

Omega quickly readied a shot at me, and I waved a finger in front of him disapprovingly before he could discharge it.

"Ah, ah, ah!" I mock scolded him. "It's my turn now! You have to wait until I'm done!"

It's obvious he's had enough of me. He fires the shot anyway, against my wishes, and I disperse myself into mist before it can strike me.

"Cheater!" My voice barks angrily amid the chaos.

It turns out it wasn't a cave after all. It was a tunnel that lead to a sandy beach filled with the most baffling looped natural structures, and various wildlife I had never even heard of or cared to learn about.

And, God... It was so damn bright. The sudden change in lighting between the two places made me feel like my eyes were on fire, causing me to stop just outside the exit once I led my pursuer there, crying out in shock as I clapped my hands to my face, trying to make it stop.

I hear you laughing at me. Stop it. I don't find that humorous at all. It hurt. A lot...

Consider this: a Mobian hedgehog's eyes take up a good amount of space on their head. That's a lot of sensitive optic nerves right there. Thousands. Which are all now screaming at me for being such a careless idiot...

Once my vision clears enough to see blurs and shapes, I struggle to find where I should head next. I am a bit unnerved to be virtually blind at the moment, but I reason to myself that my sight should be normal in a few minutes. Unfortunately, I don't have a few minutes to just stand there. You know... That whole being chased by Omega thing?

Something that burns strikes me in the back, sending me out in the open, rolling in a dazed state until I'm sprawled under the shade of a rather large boulder. I can almost hear the mark it left sizzling, but strangely, the burning fades away quickly.

I'm now shaking. Not from fear or pain, but with rage. How dare he!

Once my eyes finally focus, I can see that the crystal coating on my hands is back. There's almost a weightless feeling spreading through me, and everything clears and enhances. Even the sound. It's so surreal, but I like it... Even if I'm startled about liking it.

A low chuckle starts from deep inside me, escalating into a a roar of insane laughter as Omega stops in confusion, possibly wonder what I must be on, if it were actually possible for me to be "on" something to begin with. I can't even keep myself upright, and simply sit there, slumped while I claw at my crystalized quills.

Though I haven't heard the buzzing bugs in my head for a while, my ears are ringing, possibly from me being hit like I was. Thankfully, I can safely say that the ringing is a normal side effect to being blasted with a beam of energy that exploded in a burst of sound. Ha. Can't argue with me now.

I look up with a hint of a smirk worked into my features. I wiggle the fingers of one hand in a small wave.

"Bye bye..."

And I allow myself to sink into the shadow of the boulder to let myself pop up elsewhere so I can wait and plan further before I start feeding him lies.

I end up in another section of the beach area, which had several crablike robots, no doubt from that human who seems to want me. They start to advance, but I clap my hands, starting an orb which I enlarged before throwing it the center one.

They all exploded, even the ones no where near the stricken. They must have had a mechanism that triggers a self destruct if the strongest one is taken out. What a stupid design failure. If that's what I have to expect from my pursuers, then I should be fine...

I guess nothing to do now other than wait...

Oh, joy...


	11. Chapter 11 by CoolAnaAngel

CoolAnaAngel's Piece...

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><p>Who knew driving a mass-killing-machine-hunk-of-tin up the wall could be so much fun? I haven't enjoyed myself like this since….uh…well, never mind that.<br>Other than that little incident with the odd red bouncing device, I've been able to taunt Omega without a hitch. Perhaps the tables are finally turning. Maybe Lady Luck is shooting a gypsy smile in my direction for a change. Maybe I'll finally be able to pull of this off! Maybe I'll-

Slow down. It's not over yet. Not even close. I've still got a lot of work ahead-

Hey. The buzzing in my ears stopped. Maybe the bugs migrated south. Wait… bugs don't migrate. Oh, whatever! You know what I mean!

Oh, look. Here comes Omega now. Maybe I'll let him think that he's winning. Then make him that much more surprised when I come back at him. I do love messing with people's minds. Wait, do robots have minds?

Focus! He's here.

A firearm protrudes from his right hand and it clicks, ready to fire. He aims it at my chest and I pretend like I don't see it coming. He fires the gun and the bullet hits my chest.

I don't feel any pain. Just a little tingling sensation. Seriously? This piece of junk defeated the Ultimate Life Form? And I wasn't able to? That's infuriating…

Omega continues to fire the bullets at me and I play my role well. I stumble back and act as though each shot hurts me when it only tingles. I look at him and I know it's time to bring the crowd to its knees.

Showtime.

I slouch over slightly, as though in pain and look at him. "This only proves that you were created to stop Shadow, the Ultimate Life Form," I hiss. If robots could blink, I'm sure Omega would have. Feeding off his confusion, I continue.

"Don't tell me you didn't know?" I taunt. "You may have been programmed by humanity, but what you did to Shadow…that was your—"

Omega cuts me off by revealing larger guns where his hands used to be. He fires at me mercilessly and the tingling sensation chills my spine.

Damn! I'm a great actor! This is all better than I imagined! Glowing with pride at how my plan worked, I throw my head back and let loose a maniacal laugh before sinking into the sand and teleporting outside of Soleanna.

Back at Soleanna, I try to quiet my laughter and succeed partly. I'm still chuckling as I walk through the city.

There! The seeds of doubt are planted. Omega won't be able to withhold this information from Shadow which will, in turn, cause the hedgehog to doubt his relationship and his amount of trust in Omega. Eventually, the hedgehog will no longer have any trust with the robot and they'll turn against each other.

Turning friends into enemies is a beautiful thing, is it not?

My gloating is cut short by a dull throbbing in my torso. I look down and see that the places where Omega shot me are somewhat swollen.

What? He hurt me? Why didn't I feel it earlier? Was I too caught up in the moment to fully process the pain? Or is it the insanity?

NO! I'm not insane! And…God damn it! There's that stupid 'effing buzzing again!

Okay, stay calm. Breathe in…breathe out….you're okay. You're okay. You still have a chance to win this game. Stay one step ahead of the opponent. Lure him into checkmate without him knowing. You can do this. You are the king.

But, I can't win without my queen. A Chaos Emerald.

Where can I find one? I heard some talk earlier about one being in a place called Dusty Desert. If I'm correct, Dusty Desert isn't too far from Soleanna.

Good! I'll get my queen while my pawn, Silver, kills the rival's white knight. No doubt the other king with come after me with his cavalry. No matter. I can handle it.  
>Meanwhile, it's time to set the game into play. I teleport to Dusty Desert, making my first move in this "Sudden Death" moment of the game, if you will.<p>

Game on.


	12. Chapter 12 by RaeLogan

Mine...

* * *

><p>Luck would have it that I made a slight miscalculation, of course. And by that, I mean that I wasn't exactly where the Chaos Emerald was.<p>

It appears that I was in some sort of corridor, with waves of sand washing over the platforms in the lower areas. And I happened to be on one.

Before I can react, I find myself overwhelmed and pulled off the platform before I had even a second to think. Then, before I realized that had happened, I was thrown into a wall, and only was able to narrowly avoid getting pummeled by the various dangerous objects lurking in the ocean of rock particles.

Clawing my way up to a slab near a door, I soon realize that as I make it to the platform completely, I'm gripping the edges tightly, body tense, and stiff quills puffed out in a primal reaction. I quickly compose myself, and ease up, then begin trying to get as much sand out of my coarse coat as possible, as I find it's texture to be quite a nuisance against my skin.

Once finished, I'm hardly surprised at the pile of the stuff on the ground around me from the quills alone. Rather, I'm quite annoyed at the intense possibility that this won't be the last time I have to do this. My wounded areas seem to find it all even more of an irritation, and that leaves me quite disgruntled.

So, how the heck do I get across? That spring object would be helpful right about now, but it appears that there wasn't one in sight.

Groaning in frustration, I curse inwardly about my rotten luck before something dawns on me that makes me feel so stupid for overlooking it.

Can't I hover while in my crystal coated form?

Of course. And taking into consideration the limit I have between the main floor and the air as far as how high I can do so, I can easily move from high platform to high platform without even touching the sand.

I suppose the only reason I forgot I could do that was because I hadn't really used that ability enough times to be second nature. Honestly, it just keeps me off the ground for a set distance above it... It's hovering using my Chaos Energy...

Nothing worth noting happens between the realization and actually making it across. The details would bore you.

Once on the other side, I look back just to see the progress I had made. Given that the other door looks quite small from here, I can safely say I did well.

The rest of my journey to the Emerald was more or less the same idea, which was find a way across the area without falling, as it appeared that some of the sand was capable of devouring beings, as I managed to witness several of the many orange and purple creatures inhabiting the halls getting swallowed up by the crushed rock, all of whom tried fruitlessly to escape, but disappeared and never resurfaced.

That was more than enough to cue me that I should take great care in getting passed the sand. I was lucky enough to find a shadow or two to speed up the process, bypassing many of the traps that had been set by who knows... Really... Who took the time to set this up? I'm surprised there wasn't a loop built into the path, as the rest seemed ludicrous enough as it was.

How did I know where I was supposed to go, you ask? Good question. It felt as if something was drawing me further into this labyrinth, perhaps the energy from the Emerald, like a magnet. The further I ventured in, the more I was sure I should continue that way...

You know, if not for all the sand getting under my fur and grinding against my skin, this place isn't so bad. Littered with dark tunnels, the temperature quite low, and it's possibly long forgotten decor of hieroglyphics foretelling a possible horrible disaster really appealed to me. Apparently, the Humans were no strangers to disaster...

A blocked hallway was no problem for me, I simply used a shadow to appear on the other side. I just can't believe how easy this is for me right now!

I suddenly freeze. Yes... It is pretty easy. Too much so. I shouldn't let myself get too cocky, as it's also simple enough for my luck right now to twist in on itself and slap me in the face with whiplash.

My ear pulls in the direction of a sound that reaches it, something all too familiar by now: metal shoe sidings scraping against a rocklike ground.

Shadow.

Of course. Always not too far behind me. And in... Three... Two... One...

There we go. Right on time. Ears starting to burn again. If I didn't know any better, I would have thought they had spontaneously burst into flames on my head.

I twitch them in an attempt to get circulation to them, if that's the problem, trying to focus on something other than the fiery itching sensation on the top of my head.

I suppose there's nothing I can do now other than continue my task. I venture further, hearing Shadow always being one chamber behind me, half glad that the annoying obstacles were there, because it was stalling him.

I have no idea how long it took, but finally, there seemed to be an end to this ancient maze. A massive, round room with large hooded statues with birdlike heads loomed over as decorations. At the end of this room, there was a set of stairs leading up to a pedestal behind an archway. A tiny yellow glint in the distance and the strong urge to move forward confirms that it's indeed the Emerald I was searching for.

"Check." I whisper to myself, excited to be so close to the end of this "game", as I've started to view it as. It's only a matter of time before I can lock my opponents in a Checkmate, and then I win. I've used my pawns and can now discard them.

Wonderful.

I move forward and up the stairs, the burning in my ears almost forgotten as I look up above me at the pedestal, which was too high for me, but thanks to my hover ability, I was able to bring myself eye level to it.

This Emerald is yellow, and each facet and edge reflects my face back at me as I stare at it eagerly, watching it glitter and glow with it's mesmerizing power.

I can't believe it. I finally have one. It's right here in front of me, just within reach, all to myself, and no one is going to stop me from grabbing it...

Except... Maybe Shadow...

Groaning in frustration as I hear the barrier give way, I snatch up the power gem, and feel it's energy surge through me, bringing to my attention of a sort of power I didn't realize was possible with me. If this was a video game, I could just imagine a short tune, perhaps in the melody of the main hero's theme music to illustrate a powerup to a viewer. Perhaps, given my alignment, it might be more sinister, or even my own music segment orchestrated ominously.

Something to illustrate that, excuse my lack of class when I say this: "Freaky junk is about to go down."

What? I pick up on terms all the time! It's how I adapt to the current timeline I'm in!

Fine! "Their luck just ran out."! Is that better? Picky, picky, picky! Hmph!

Of course, it couldn't have been more than half a minute after grabbing the Emerald that I heard Shadow shout out my name in an angered sense of failure of not reaching it before I.

Basking in both the glow of the Emerald and my victory, I look over my shoulder to see him and his little team, stopped in the middle of the room, staring up at me as if not sure of what to do for plan B.

Check, again.

"I was expecting you sooner..." I lie, knowing full well I just got here moments before them. "As you must know, you're already too late." I hold up the Emerald for them to see, driving it in further that I've won.

Shadow seems the most affected, glaring at me as he tries to consider his next move, not unlike a careless pawn trapped between a bishop and a rook. I prefer the sneaky nature of the knight, myself... Easily able to bypass even the most powerful of pieces. Time to take him out.

"But there's still time for you to change your mind..." I offer in false generosity to him, gesturing and bringing my hands into the air as if painting a mental image of a much larger picture. "Join me, Shadow... Let us teach this world a lesson... And rewrite the future!"

"Don't try to deceive me!" He doesn't even hesitate in responding, swinging an arm out to sweep the imagery away.

I respond with a somewhat flat: "What..?" bowled over by how unaffected he was.

As he launches into explaining in great detail of what my true motive it, why I'm inclined to it, and what the outcome is, his words start to muffle as the droning of those damned insects fill my ears again. I simply stare blankly until his mouth stops moving and I can only guess that he's done speaking. My arms drop and swing a bit in annoyance, dropping my head slightly to further convey it.

I speak a little louder now so I can drown out the bugs, now on my last thread of patience.

"It's a pity, Shadow the Hedgehog..." I let the Emerald float upward as I prepare my next move. "Truly a shame that you wish to go against me!"

An inky, oily substance spreads across the floor as Shadow, Omega and Whatshername shuffle about anxiously, not sure what I was going to do to them.

"I'll make sure you regret this, Shadow the Hedgehog!" I declare, clapping my hands together to summon up what I need.

A wave of those aquatic-like creatures from before erupt from the ocean of shadows, diving after the hedgehog and his friends as they dodge this way and that, the creatures smashing away several pillars as they cross cross every which way.

Once the last one sinks into the ground, I know the situation is just right for my next move.

"_Drown in darkness_!"


	13. Chapter 13 by CoolAnaAngel

Hers...

* * *

><p>I follow my aquatic like creatures into the purple floor, savoring Shadow's expression when I made my move. Time to see what he does when I bring out my knights.<br>Using the power of my Queen, the Chaos Emerald, I create several of smaller "demons," shimmering in amethyst, onyx, and sapphire colors. I watch Shadow closely for some kind of reaction. Terror, anxiety, anything. Anything that shows that I am something of a threat.

My rage boils over as I see that he is looking at my creations with boredom. Boredom! How dare he? I will make him fall to his knees begging for me to end his suffering and kill him. Begging for me to show him mercy as he slowly bleeds to death, shattered ribs digging into his lungs, making every breath send agonizing pain through his pathetic, wretched body.

It's a few moments before I realize that, in my rage, I've been making the ground that Shadow stands on tremble and crack. All my creations lunge at Shadow and his companions, razor sharp claws extended and eager to rip out any bit of flesh they can reach. Their eyes glow menacingly and their teeth are set into a demonic grin that makes me feel a small spark of pride at my work. That is, until Shadow sends them all flying back with a burst of his Chaos Control.

Trembling with rage, I roar, "Drown in darkness!" I propel myself into the murky, dark purple ground, allowing the darkness to soothe me and calm me down enough to think straight. An idea strikes me and a ghost of a smirk passes over my face. I gather all of my smaller creations and mold them together, constructing a being I'm sure even the Ultimate Lifeform cannot destroy. I will enjoy hearing their screams as this new, terrifying creature destroys them slowly. One. By. One

.  
>My new beast, my Rook, rises from the ground, towering over the Mobians, over twenty feet tall. A sinister laugh rises from the pit of my stomach as I see their expressions at my new monster. I let it escape in a dark chuckle and sit back, waiting to enjoy the show.<p>

My Rook opens its gaping mouth, releasing a large stream of bright purple Dark Chaos at the heroes. They scramble, barely managing to dodge. I have to laugh when I see that Shadow is burned on the arm from the attack. Aw, does that hurt, hedgehog? Too bad. It's only beginning for you.

But, something is wrong. My Rook is just….standing there. What is it doing? Why isn't it still attacking? Did I do something wrong? Is something wrong with the Chaos Emerald? No! I didn't do anything wrong! I planned his creation perfectly!

Before a viable explanation can come to mind, I see Shadow seize hold of this wretched miscalculation. He propels himself up to the beast's head using his rockets built into his shoes. Shadow sends a swift series at attacks at my beast. It roars and clutches its head before disappearing completely.

In a fit of fury, I create dozens more of the beings, only to have them meet the same fate. Suddenly, I notice Shadow begin to glow with Chaos Energy. He narrows his crimson eyes before seeming to explode in a burst of red light. The light blinds me and completely destroys all the darkness that I've spread around the room. I'm send spiraling to the surface again to see Shadow emanating red Chaos Control. I feel my eye begin to twitch in fury.

That's how you want to play, then? Alright. I'm game.

I create a large mass of darkness in the palm of my hand before hurling it at Shadow, having it closely followed by similar attacks. Shadow ducks, rolls, and jumps to dodge my attacks and I laugh somewhat madly. I've got him right where I-

Suddenly he's in front of me. He pummels me with a series of quick attacks before I am able to pull away, my body aching and protesting. The sound of the bugs in my ears gets louder and more furious as Shadow continues the same routine.

Over and over. Again and again. Hit there, hit here. Kick every now and then with a burst of Chaos Energy when he feels like it. Hit, kick, punch. Hit, kick, punch. One, two, three. One, two, three. Like some horrible requiem from a nightmare.

_My_ requiem.

_My_ nightmare.

With no one to wake me up.


	14. Chapter 14 by RaeLogan

And this one is by me... and is the final chapter. Ooooh. :D

* * *

><p>I think I've gone deaf. All I can hear is those insects, gnawing at my ears as I try to instinctively shield my face, something that makes Shadow grin, knowing that he's overpowering me.<p>

That action from him alone was enough to stir up another fit of rage in me. I can't hear anything, but I know I must of let loose an enraged scream as a shockwave of power erupted from me, knocking him back. Without looking, I jump back and bring up a shield to stall for time, trying to compose myself enough to think clearly.

Looking up, wondering why he wasn't taking his time to pummel at my shield like he had several times before, and I admit I'm a bit stunned by what I see...

Another me, standing where I had been, appearing somewhat startled to suddenly be there. If anything, he, that is to say I, looked absolutely confused, as if he had been pulled from doing something completely unrelated, and was trying to determine for himself why he was were he was at...

Looking at the Emerald I now had clutched in my claws, I mused to myself that perhaps I managed to summon another me from another point in time in an attempt to escape my beat down, and had pulled one who was unaware such an event would ever occur.

He looked at me, and looked downright nerve wracked once he realize I was him and vice versa. He _must_ be a me from before I knew I could be capable of anything with my powers... Otherwise, he would have easily concluded the cause and not be acting like this...

Shadow landed several hits on him, and he fell to the ground in shock before disappearing in a puff of purple. Suddenly, my body seized for a few seconds, and I dropped the Emerald, dispersing my shield as several sharp pains shot through me approximately where the other me had been hit.

What the Hell was that? I wasn't even touched! How could he-! What did-! Aahhh! Stop it! Stop it! Stop it! Shadow, the damn bugs, my burning ears, _every_thing! You're all driving me mad! You're-!

About this point, my thoughts were cut off when something very solid collided with the right side of my face, the force of it driving me to the ground and causing me to roll until I came to a halt on my back, staring up at the cavernous ceiling, calmly counting to myself all the ways I could obliterate Shadow.

Some time passed before I realized I hadn't been hit again, and I heard Shadow say: "Are you getting up anytime soon, or should I just take the Emerald and run..?"

"Eh..?" I admit that had me stunned.

"It's considered a scum move to attack while the opponent is down."

"... You have _got_ to be kidding me..." I shake my head disbelievingly. I have to be the only one with any realistic common sense around here...

Sink into the ground again, and try the same attack as before with those beasts. Maybe the first set was just a bad batch, and that was why they didn't work...

Then again... I could be wrong... Oh, not again... My ears now feel like they're melting off my head from all the burning.

He powers up again, and I can feel myself being ripped from my safety zone, thrown backwards and temporarily helpless as electricity crackles around me when he lands a Chao Spear on my body. The buzzing in my head gets worse and builds up to intolerable levels... I shake my head roughly in a futile attempt to clear it, and spring behind Shadow, forming a massive energy orb above my head as he looks around for me, I moved just out of view.

"Looking for me!" I shout, getting his attention. Maybe if I destroy him, those insects will leave, and my ears can be at peace..? It has to be him... It only gets worse around him...

Hurling it at him, my rage builds even more when he jumps up in a spin and easily dodges it. How dare he! He's not supposed to dodge it! It's supposed to hit him!

More of those loose threads holding together what could hardly pass as sanity for me now wear away and the fibers stretch and snap apart, and I don't care what I'm doing now, just as long as I can erase this horrid hedgehog from my mind, from my sight, from my senses... Rid myself of that awful droning buzz that refuses to leave me alone...

There's a swirling of muted color around me, blurring together into unrecognizable forms as everything becomes disorienting, listing to the left, jerking back to the right, and listing to the left again... The sensation of which makes me grip my head and shake it, trying to drive it away futilely.

I have no idea what could be so humorous about all of that, but I've completely lost all sense in everything that erupting in such an unstable fit of laughter seems the easiest thing to do right now, and for a moment, it makes me even forgot how much discomfort my ears were in. It even clouds over the mind numbing state of vertigo I had just experienced, and leaves me in this bizarre state of mind in which the only thing matters is that I'm going to crush this insolent, arrogant, defiant, HATEFUL hedgehog and his allies...

I'm sorry... Am I making any sense right now..? I'm trying the best I can, but right now, I do believe I'm experiencing a psychotic episode in which I cannot be talked down from or even negotiated with. Not so long as SHADOW is still there, still fighting, still defying, still MOCKING me... You understand, don't you..?

No..?

No?

No... Huh...

Well, then...

Forget you, too! I tried! I really did! But, y'know what? YOU people refuse to show even a shred of sympathy for someone who got screwed over just as much as the good guy did! So what if SHADOW was frozen for half a century! At least people knew he existed! You all were pretty quick to forgive all the terrible things HE did, and praised him for getting cold feet for what he was GOING to do to the planet! Did you forget he was going to watch indifferently as something the size of the moon was going to plow right through your homes? Just because he felt the need to punish your entire race for something a few idiots did recklessly? And now you let him work for the same people he tried to murder..?

At least with me, I'm only planning on getting rid of the few who are in my way, so I can actually reunite with my other half! My brother!

EH? How on Chaos' Green Hills of Mobius can you even be SURE I was even planning on wiping you all from existence to begin with! Who told you that garbage? I'm quite sure I made it clear that my priority is to save Iblis! If I'm this bad after being trapped for a decade by myself in darkness, can you even begin to fathom how a pure element of power such as Iblis must feel right now? We're both naturally drawn together like magnets, and it must be tearing him apart that be can't find me at all... He probably hasn't realized that he's sealed from this plane of existence yet... Not that's he's stupid, or anything... I'm just saying that if I was completely disoriented and unable to figure out up from down while I was sealed away... No doubt Iblis had that or the equivalent...

Do you realize a decade is approximately three thousand, six hundred and fifty two days? Eighty seven thousand, six hundred and fifty eight hours. Five million, two hundred and fifty nine thousand, four hundred and eighty seven POINT sixty six seconds.

Having an incredible internal sense of time does nothing to help for that matter, as I was aware of every second that ticked away in there, even the ones I didn't actively count out loud just so I could remind myself what sound sounded like...

*sigh*

Of course... I can't really expect to gain much sympathy from a bunch of people who are so fixated on something else. You have it set in mind that because I oppose Shadow, I must be pure Chaotic Evil instead of Chaotic Neutral. If I recall, I didn't ask to be put in this predicament... I was forced into it to be punished for something I MIGHT do in the distant future.

Thanks for telling me of my hopeless future, and furthermore how I am completely powerless to suggest an alternative, monsters.

With all the branching elements of time, one would think there was a possibility I might have been a variant and might have done things a bit differently. I didn't even have a chance, honestly.

What! I'm sounding like a whiny brat now? See, THIS is the reason I don't play well with others!

NOBODY.

UNDER.

STANDS.

ME.

...

...

...

...

At this moment, I find myself hitting the ground roughly after I mange to tune my senses back to where I was. Impact happens in alternating angles as I bounce and roll, losing momentum and coming to a stop, my brain feeling like a marble being spun around in a shaken hamster ball. Shoving myself up, I quickly overbalance and fall on my face, unable to bring my arms out to stop me. Stubborn as I am, I refuse to remain like that and force myself with much difficulty to my feet, using the sandstone pillar as a bit of support.

"... Alright... How much did I..? I mean... That was a bit..." I have no idea what I was trying to do or why, and I suppose I could blame that on being disoriented. Taking a deep breath, I raise my hand and tap at my head with my index finger, trying to get my brain back into gear. "... Y'know what..? This... This isn't... I'm going to so kill you dead... Yeah... Just as soon as... Soon as I figure out which one of you is... you..."

Looking back, that was absolutely humiliating. Horrifically so, as I caught a snort of what could be assumed to be a muffled laugh through his nose as a shift in his eyes indicated that he was internally laughing at me.

Perhaps I was so consumed with burning rage at him at this point that I had come full circle, and didn't feel it, much less show it. Nevertheless, I reach out my hand and shove the pillar in front of me with combined force of my own physical energy and variant of psychokinesis, staring in mild disbelief as Shadow looks up at the approaching crushing force and merely sidesteps.

"... Why won't you just die already..?" I drop my arms exasperatedly as the dust clears and I can see him standing there unscathed. "... I don't believe it... I've tried _every_thing... Why do you keep defying me..?"

He says nothing as that she-bat hands him something the glints strangely in the light. It doesn't take me long to realize that it's a perfectly restored object of my previous confinement.

If emotions were able to be applied as arrows, one of pure horror went right through me as he held it up, preparing to use it. Completely immobilized, I could only scream out mentally every exclamation of denial I could think of, my eyes widening to their largest capable point and my tormented ears pressing themselves against my head.

For reasons still unknown to me, I was reverting back to my basic, most purest form, standing as a puddle of oily black ooze, perhaps hoping that if my made myself smaller, I'd be able to escape.

Fat chance.

The sickeningly familiar change in gravitational pull also started to pull me back into my senses. I realized that I was being trapped inside that accursed Scepter once more, by HIM, no less. History was repeating itself again, it seemed...

No..

Oh, no no no no no no NO NO NO NO! NOT AGAIN!

Unlike the first time, I now have all this power and the knowledge of how to use it! I am no longer a freshly created creature who hasn't a clue what's happening! I know damn well what's going on, and I AM NOT GOING TO LET IT HAPPEN AGAIN!

...

...

...

A burst of energy erupts forth, and the prison shatters like glass within seconds as I reconstruct myself back into my form I was using prior.

I see that Shadow has his arms shielding his face from the blast of energy and light, and when he looks up, I can see a flicker of anxiety in him... Enough to please me. I can tell that he hadn't been prepared for that, even... His face clearly has "How!" written all over it.

"... The 'I' of now absorbed your power through your shadow in the past..." I explain in a slight growl, still enraged at nearly being shoved into a tube in an attempt to try and erase all traces of me again. He stares in a state of shock with the other two as I continue: "... What may have worked ten years ago... NO LONGER DOES!"

Driving my point home, I unleash another wave of pent up energy and frustration. He braces himself as the ground cracks and caves in, until the aftershock sends him and his friends back and in the air, all of them crying out in shock and surprise, before dropping one after another like flies, each with their own sound... I heard something sounding like bone, and of course, Omega's crash sounded like a trashcan being thrown to the ground from a roof of a building. I was a bit disappointed when Shadow failed to end up under his robot friend and maybe at least sprain something, but I felt a shimmer of satisfaction as he landed on his head and clutched at the spot of impact as he started to push himself up, but remained crouched.

Grabbing the Emerald that I had at my feet, I throw it in the air and summon the one Shadow had kept with him above me, both rotating in the movement of an infinity symbol. Flicking me wrists, I summon many more of myself in other points in time, focusing on getting those who would actually know what to do and why they'd be here. A brief look at them all as they fill the chamber, I can see many of them appear to be unfazed by the sudden calling, a couple near me whispering "... This again..?" and a small number looking throughly confused and even on the verge of some breakdown, perhaps the mes from before I knew of the possibility of this move. Shame, really... They seem so out of place as they try and figure out why they are surrounded by so many doppelgängers. They'll probably not last long...

"You must realize now that you cannot hope to defeat me with your... Limitless power..." I gloat, taking pride in actually managing to wound, albeit smally, the hedgehog.

Shadow looks up, ignoring the whole army of myself as he stares at me and only me, actually startling me to some degree, as I wonder how he could tell me apart from the rest.

"... So you say..." He responds coolly as he rises to his feet, his teammates doing the same as well.

Oh, not this again. Defiant to the end, I see..? Well, if I _had_ to say one compliment about him... I guess I'd have to say he's about as tough as a rock... What kind, I'm still debating. Obviously not sandstone, and I sure as heck hope it's not diamond... Bleh... That actually made me feel sick just saying any of that... If I had a tongue, I'd rather promptly scrub it with scouring pad then do that again... Yuck...

"... Why fight at all..?" I try this time to pry at him to both break him and to see what lies inside his head. "... Why risk your life for those who will persecute later..?"

That has little effect on him, and he reaches for a Ring on one of his wrists and gives a quick twist to pull it off.

"If the world chooses to become my enemy..." He responds with pride as the bat watches him with a slight smile of pure admiration while he reaches for the next wrist. "I will fight like I always have!"

What does he know about fighting constantly? I've been trying to claw my way though my existence to get a simple acknowledgment of my existence and that I never did anything wrong to begin with! I never even had a chance! How dare he!

The second Ring drops and suddenly, he and his team is encased in a golden orb of light, all three taking attack positions as the air burns with the electrical charge of energy.

... Where on Mobius is all that power coming from..?

Oh... Crap...

I really should think about getting out of here...

...

...

CONSIDERING HE'S PLOWING THROUGH ALL OF THE MES THAT ARE OUT THERE WITHOUT EVEN TRYING! THOSE MES ARE LITERALLY FLYING THROUGH THE AIR!

...

...

Taking no time, I focus on the thoughts of getting as far away from this onslaught as possible. There's so many of me out there that he probably won't notice until it's too late... I hope...

I can't help but feel like this has happened before, though...

Anyway, with my ability to warp through things and all that, I get myself to the most secluded area I can think of... And that ended up being that forest.

Not bad... Low on the social activity... Well shadowed areas for an elemental based being such as myself to enjoy... Away from everyone and everything... And... And...

I forgot the Emeralds... Didn't I..?

Gaah! Stupid! Stupid! _Stupid!_ Why didn't I just sit down in his trajectory or something equally as idiotic! I had TWO Emeralds in my possession, and I LEFT THEM BEHIND! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!

Repeatedly hitting my head against a massive tree trunk at the end of each sentence or so to punish myself for such carelessness, practically on the verge of anguish and suffering from an absolute shattered hope and dream that I was going to be with Iblis once more, something falls from the tree and strikes me sharply in the head. That actually hurt it more than what I was doing to it.

Looking over at the object in pure annoyance, expecting it to be a fruit I must have jostled from the branches, I end up almost falling over when I see that it's actually, incredulous as it may sound... The purple Chaos Emerald.

At first, I was very cautious. Was this thing simply a bomb set to explode the moment I pick it up.. ? Nothing was this easy... Was it a trap..? There was no way such luck could happen to me...

Carefully reaching my hand out to it, I quickly prod it and draw back swiftly, flinching and bracing myself for something to happen.

Nothing.

Poke it again, this time more confidently.

Still nothing.

Put my hand on it.

Nothing but a surge of energy that I knew would happen.

Pick it up.

This was the real deal. I stare in disbelief as I'm reflected back at me from every facet on the power gem, testing the weight in my hands, and tossing it up and down a few times, gradually growing less and less anxious about it.

Yes... This was a Chaos Emerald. More importantly, one that reacted flawlessly with my Aura. Meaning that I could do with this what would take several Emeralds otherwise.

Like how I used it to create a blinding flash against Sonic, impale him, and summon the rest of the Emeralds so I could-

Wait. Didn't I already find this Emerald here before..? Granted, it was floating instead of striking me in the head, but still...

Wait a minute... I could have sworn I fought Shadow before in the same place... Eh... Must be the time travel side effect... I shouldn't worry too much about it... Right..?

Then burst of flames in the distance, sounding as if something had crashed into lower cliff wall. Two shapes, one of which smaller and blue, are thrown onto the safety zone, and roll after landing, the blue one quickly getting up and standing over the other one, before offering it's hand to assist...

Wait... It that... That's not... Didn't..?

The Emerald slips out of my hands as I realize something rather startling...

This has all happened before.

A little bit of a variant here and there, yes... But it's all happened before...

I've been in this forest before, with the Emerald, just as Sonic and the girl pass by and I initiate my move, kill him, make her cry and reunite with Iblis.

I've come full circle in a literal sense, and haven't done much different...

Worse yet... It very well may happen again... As doing what I just described will take me right back to where we were when I started talking to you...

How did I get this far without suspecting..?

The two of them make their way back to town, both giggling and laughing at surviving such a near death experience as I remain where I am, hidden, still trying to sort this all out.

If I take out Sonic... I'll more than likely go through all that again, and not realize it until this point...

If I don't... What happens..? Will I cease to exist because I'll break a paradox doing so..? If I do, then all events prior do that will unravel... I had gone through so many points in time...

My past... My future... My present... They all hinge on some vital point in this paradox. Without it... Nothing will happen as far as me existing will go. I just don't know what that is...

This is bad. Terrible. Horrible. A disaster! If I let him walk free, I'm going to die! This isn't just a matter of being where I belong, anymore! If I don't kill him, I won't be around to even belong to anything! My entire personal fabric of time is hanging by threads right now!

I'm sorry, but I can't avoid it! He has to be killed!

What! I'm not being selfish! You don't understand! Everything that exists within this paradox will cease if I don't! Relationships! Development! Concepts! Everything that loops around and veers off of it! If it doesn't exist, then everything linked to it will fall apart and gradually pull everything in with it into a black hole of fractured timelines, throwing things out of whack, and... And... And...

Please understand... The only one I really hold intense hatred for is Shadow... But nothing can exist if... Look... I don't have much time to extensively explain how the fabric of time and space works and how removing something will be a catalyst for total destruction of every concept and being... So please... Just let me kill Sonic...

After all... He'll just be revived anyway, right..? No harm done, really... You get your hero back... And I'll just mindlessly repair and maintain the flow of time itself so we all don't end up in a white void of worlds all drained of color...

It's probably the only thing I can do right... And even at that, I won't remember it...

Hate me all you want... Next time we meet... It'll be the first for me...


End file.
